Forgotten Memories
by cyancat
Summary: Shampoo X Mousse angsty fic. A child by the name of Mousse, given up at birth, decides to find her family after 15 years of loneliness. What happens when she goes back to her parent's home? REMAKE of Ch.13 Coming SOON!
1. Prologue

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) cyancat ****

Forgotten Memories

Prologue

He had come to her room one night, desolate and forlorn, seeking a shoulder to cry on. News of his mother's death had reached him and now he was mourning the only one that had truly cared for him. Seeing a new side to the pitiful boy, she let him stay with her and tried her best to comfort him. They were from the same village, nonetheless and she too knew the heartache of losing a loved one.

It was then that she saw the boy in a new light. His caring heart, his indomitable spirit, his tenderness towards her everyday, whatever it was, she wanted so badly to help heal the hurt burrowing into his core. Lifting his head towards hers, she softly kissed him on the lips. At first it was a floating kiss which then quickly deepened into a passionate demanding kiss. 

His eyes flashed open in surprise, but for the first time in his life, he didn't back away. He closed his eyes once more and answered to the kiss given to him, wrapping his arms around her and pulled her closer.

Morning found the two together asleep in her bed, arms wrapped around each other in an embrace. The boy awoke to the sun shining in his face and turned to look at the girl sleeping soundly beside him. He brushed a stray strand of violet hair from her face and smiled at her. The thing he had wished for so many years had finally come true, yet now as he stared down at her, he felt that he didn't deserve it. 

He had done nothing in his life to deserve her, this, and he knew that he had to leave. He had to go and find a way to deserve her respect, to bring honor upon her. Kissing her slumbering form once more before closing the door behind him, he sighed in remorse and then walked off with his pack over his shoulder into the way of the rising sun.

She awoke to find herself alone on her bed. A slip of paper was beside her, written by the one she had shared the night with.

'I am sorry that I left you so soon. Even after what has happened between us, but

I don't deserve you like this. I have done nothing to deserve the right to love you and

care for you. I leave with a heavy heart, but I hope that I will return to you soon and that

you will forgive me. Until our fateful day, I leave you with only a memory of myself

from the past. I will think of you everyday that I am gone. Please remember that I do

love you, now and without an end.'

Holding back any tears she might shed, she cleaned herself up and dressed quietly. Heading downstairs, she met her great-grandmother looking at her with an inquiring eye. She walked past the old woman and headed into the kitchen of the café, ready to start on the cooking for the brunch rush. Her great-grandmother just shook her head in obscurity and headed into the dining room. 

Two months passed by and still he did not return. Mornings had become hard for her, as she became ill as soon as she awoke and there was hardly anything that she could keep down without retching. One day, after noticing the developments of her grand-daughter, her grandmother stopped her and asked her a question that even she hadn't thought of. After visiting the nearby doctor, the question was made reality. She was pregnant. 

Not wanting others to find out about her condition, her grandmother sentenced her to stay at the café, to never leave the store again until her pregnancy was over. She did as she was told and stayed put. She stayed in the kitchen and cooked as the weeks went by, as the the counter was just high enough to hide her growing stomach. 

Her grandmother hired a take-out runner and waitressed tables herself. All the girl had to do was cook and stay out of sight. Many times her friends would come by and at the moment of seeing them, she would run away upstairs to hide from them feigning an illness, as she had to cooperate with her grandmother's wishes.

When she wasn't cooking in the café below, she sat in her room and watched out the window, waiting for the boy that had loved her and then left for a reason that she believed wasn't right. Though in the eyes of their clan, it was right. A man had to make sure that he was worthy of the girl he loved and if he couldn't prove it, then he didn't deserve her. Four months changed to six and then eight months had passed by, but he still didn't return to her. She cried many a night, wishing he was there with her, to share the life of their child. 

When she was into the ninth month of her pregnancy, her grandmother told her news that made her cry even worse than before. The baby that she carried could not be kept. As soon as she had the child, they were returning to their village. She had long ago determined that the boy was not coming back to the girl, as he did not even know of her pregnancy. 

Her grandmother knew that no man of the village would want to marry her grand-daughter as long as she had a child of another man beside her. An unwed mother was not looked upon with very good regard and many women were tossed out of the clan just because they had a baby, yet had no man to marry and make a father of. The child would be given away to an orphanage and that would be the end of it all.

Two weeks later, the pains came and she realized that the time had come to have her child. She was saddened even more that now she would separated from the baby that had been produced from their love. The one thing that she had grown so close to over the months would not be with her when she left this city. Nearly half a day later, she found herself at the hospital, holding the baby that she'd carried for so long. It was a girl to her delight and dismay. 

Borne with a mop of black hair and a pair of violet eyes just like her mothers, the baby was now cradled in the girl's arms. As she stared down at her daughter, her eyes shining with tears, she knew that it was the last time she'd see this angelic face again. Her great-grandmother entered the hospital room and advised her that it would be time to leave soon. She had to leave the baby now or else she could never let go. 

She nodded solemnly and then looked to her grandmother and asked if she could at least take the child to the orphanage ward. Her grandmother nodded in agreement and then left the room. The girl turned to look at the little girl laying asleep in her arms. She sighed heavily and stood up. Walking down the hallway to the ward, she stepped in and found a nurse and hurriedly gave her the child before she could change her mind. Trying to quickly leave the room, she heard the nurse call out to her and she slowly turned back to face her.

"Does she have a name or do we need to give her one?"

"No, she has a name. It's Mousse."


	2. Finding Home

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) cyancat ****

Forgotten Memories

Chapter One - Finding Home

A young girl sat perched on top of the roof of the orphanage where she had lived for many years. Her long black hair swayed in the breeze and she opened closed eyes to reveal they were violet and shimmering with a yearning. She stared at the sunrise before her and sighed heavily.

"Susie? Where are you? Don't let me find you on the roof again!" said an irritated and old voice from below.

The girl just rolled her eyes and jumped down from her perch, landing neatly in front of the old woman who had just been calling for her, causing the old lady to step back and clutch her chest in shock. She stood up and stared coldly at the woman.

"I told you, my name is NOT Susie! Its Mousse!"

"Don't take that tone with me, young lady! What does a fifteen year old girl like you know about life?" she said, shaking a gnarled finger at Mousse, "Anyone knows that you can't go around with a name like 'Mousse'. To get along in life, you need a real name that people like, maybe even enough to adopt you with!"

"Ha, I don't care what you say! That's the name my mother gave me and I'm gonna keep it forever! I don't care if no one adopts me! I'm better off on my own anyway."

"And what did your mother do to you? She left you behind! She didn't care for you! Why else do you think that you're here?" The old woman said with a snigger of laughter not quite hidden behind her words.

"Shut UP you haggard old crow!" screamed Mousse at the woman. She was hurt by the woman's words and felt ready to fight or run, but she didn't know which one to choose.

"One more word out of you and you'll be put in the hole!" the woman threatened, seething with anger at the child before her.

Mousse pursed her lips and looked away from the woman before her, yet anger still flowed freely through her. She liked nothing more than to irritate Ms. Inaba like any other person, but she hated to stay at anytime in the hole. Cold and dank, it was a cell that sat in the basement of the orphanage, way back in the corner. No one ever cleaned it, so it gradually became dirtier with every use. Rat and roaches lived there strongly and no one wanted to be around those things. Some children there say that it was used as a torture chamber way back in the time of war and it wasn't hard to believe those rumors to be true. Ms. Inaba seemed old enough to have been alive since the Feudal Era.

"Thats what I thought. Now get inside, we have another family visiting. Maybe if you're lucky, they'll choose you and I can be rid of you." Ms. Inaba said with a snarl, turning around and heading into the building behind them. Mousse stared after the old woman as she walked up the steps and slammed the door behind her. 

"Thats it," she thought as she stared at the huge brown door that was the entrance to the orphanage, "I'm getting out of here forever. I don't care what anyone says, I'm leaving."

She ran around the orphanage to the back and ran inside the door that was designated for the children. The door lead to a set of stairs that wound in circles until it reached the top floor. This was were the children of the orphanage slept. Mousse quickly maneuvered to her bed and pulled out a bag from beneath it. She began to stuff anything that she could grab into the bag, yet trying to keep quiet and not pull any attention towards her. Her fingers brushed against a can on her shelf, which held every cent that she had earned in the past years. It crashed to the floor, spilling it's contents all over the floor around Mousse. Quickly dropping down to her knees with a stifled curse, Mousse began to hastily pick up the money. But it was too late as the can's crash had awoken the girl in the bed beside Mousse. 

"Wha...what's going on?" said the girl, blinking her green eyes, still blurry from sleep. She looked to be about 10 years of age, with short dark blue hair framing her oval face.

"Nothing..just go back to sleep, Kyoko. I didn't mean to wake you from your nap." Mousse said, not daring to look at the girl, and hurried faster to pick up the money.

'Mousse! What are you doing?" Kyoko questioned as she saw the bag, stuffed with numerous items across from her, "You're not leaving are you?"

Mousse didn't bother to look up but shook her head yes.

"So then some one finally adopted you?"

Mousse again, resigned to speak and shook her head no.

"Then how..." Kyoko's eyes widened in shock, "You're not running away, are you?!"

Mousse stood up and stuffed the can holding her money into the bag and began to snatch up other items to stuff in as well.

"YOU ARE, AREN'T YOU? You're gonna run-"

Mousse flipped around and put a hand over top Kyoko's mouth, silencing her before she could finish.

Mousse shushed her with a finger to her lips, taking away her hand from Kyoko's mouth. "Usually when a person runs away, no one's supposed to know about it. And I'd like to keep it that way, if you don't mind!"

Kyoko looked around her before speaking again in a hushed voice towards the packing Mousse, "But you can't run away! What'll Ms. Inaba say?"

Mousse didn't even stop her motions as she answered back, "I don't care about what she thinks! I hate that old crow!"

"Okay then,...what about Master Sousuke? He'll be disappointed to loose his best student. You know that he'll be unhappy to see that you ran away from here."

Mousse paused, a shirt in hand, ready to pack it as well.

"Tell him...I'm sorry that I can't train any more...but I have to leave. I have to find my mother. To find out why she left me behind."

"All kids think that Mousse. How do you think that you're gonna find her? She could be anywhere!"

"I have the papers that she signed to give me away. It has an address where she used to live at. I can start there. She might still be there."

"What if she isn't Mousse? Then what?"

"Then I'll go and try to find her, where ever she may be. I won't stop looking for her. One things for sure, I am NOT coming back here!" Mousse resumed her stuffing and then stopped when she felt a hand on her arm. She turned to see Kyoko beside her, holding up a small tin to her.

"Here Mousse, you need this more than me."

Mousse gingerly took the tin from Kyoko and slowly opened it. Inside was the collection of all Kyoko's money. Her eyes widened with shock and she quickly shut the tin and shoved it back into Kyoko's hand. 

"I...I...I can't take your money Kyoko! You've spent too much time earning this!"

Kyoko pushed it back to Mousse's hand and stepped back.

"But it's mine to use and I want you to use it. I can always earn more later on. They're be more jobs to do, now that you're leaving." Kyoko smirked, trying hard not to start crying in front of her friend.

Mousse stared down at her for a moment, tears shining in her eyes. Smiling, she quickly hugged Kyoko, saying "I'll miss you so much." Turning away, Mousse grabbed her bag and then ran out of the room and down the stairs without a backwards glance. Kyoko watched her disappear down the stairs and then turned towards Mousse's bed. She quietly straightened the sheets and set things as neat as they could be. She knew another child would come along to take this bed sometime, and she wanted it to be perfect.

* * *

Mousse stared at her surroundings. She had quickly left the orphanage and headed towards the train station. The address on the paper was located in Nerima and she was in Nakano. Now, after getting off the train in Nerima, she was stuck a little. She didn't know much about streets or how to locate them. She asked the train station manager where to find a street and he pointed in a direction. After walking around for about ten minutes, Mousse then realized that she stood where the address stated. She looked up to find a small eatery called "Ming's Take Out." She took a deep breath and then entered the café.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Mousse called out into the empty store. She saw no one around and wondered if she had come at a bad time. She was just about to turn and leave when she heard a voice call out from the back. 

"Some one there? Wait one moment!"

Seconds later an old man emerged from the back, a smile plastered across his face.

"So..you new take-out girl? You come quick!"

"No..I'm not the new take-out girl. I'm here looking for someone."

"Oh, I see. Who you look for?"

"My mo...a woman. She used to live here. I have an address of hers that leads to here from fifteen years ago."

"Fifteen years, you say? Hmmm... Sorry but I don't know. I've been here for just seven years now. Before that, I bought the store from a young man, who couldn't keep the store going. I don't know who he bought it from."

"Oh, I see." Mousse said dejectedly and then slowly turned around and walked out the door.

The old man followed her to the door and called out to her, "Come back if you want take-out girl job!"

Mousse just waved her hand at the man and walked off down the street. She didn't care what he said, this had been her only hope to find her mother. Now what did she have to go by? Mousse walked on down the streets, turning at a corner whenever she felt like it and just walked. It could have been raining for all she cared. She was so lost in her thoughts and sadness, that as she walked past a fence, she failed to hear the sounds of two people fighting.

"Kisa, I'm gonna get you for that!"

"Nyaa..Yeah, right Shouji! You couldn't hit the side of grand-pa, when he's a panda!"

"Urgh, you...you..I'll get you for that!....Wha...Aaaaaahhhhhh"

At that moment a young boy flew above the head of Mousse and she had only time to look up and see the falling boy, before he made contact with her, crushing her to the cement below and knocking out the both of them. The girl from before came running around the fence, laughing with a big grin on her face that is until she noticed the person underneath Shouji. "Oh, no. Now we're gonna get it! Dad is gonna be pissed!"

Later on, Mousse woke up to find herself inside some one's house and with a huge headache. She sat up from where she had been laying on a futon and looked around. It looked like a nice house. The girl who owned this room must be happy to have it. It was then that the door slid open and woman walked in carrying a tray with tea. She looked close to middle-age yet still had the look of youth around her. Her short dark blue hair reminded Mousse of Kyoko.

"Oh, you're awake! Thought you'd be out longer than that. Taking a knock like that from Shouji's head is something not many people can live up to."

"Yeah, well, I've been training in fighting since I was five, so I'm used to the hard knocks." Mousse said, her head throbbing at the word 'knock'.

"Here, drink this." the woman said holding out a cup to her.

"What is it?"

"Tea to help with the headache. It's a special concoction made by my husband. He's the king of hard knocks I guess you could say."

"Thanks," Mousse said and then gingerly took the cup and sipped it. She nearly gagged at the taste, it was so bitter, but she forced it all down, not wanting to be mean to the lady beside her. Handing her back the cup, Mousse coughed once more from the taste.

"I bet you're hungry. Would you like some food?"

Mousse then realized that she was and her stomach answered for her with a large rumble. The woman just smiled and took her hand, pulling Mousse up from her seat and down the hallway and a flight of stairs to the dining room. At a table sat three children and five adults, four men and a woman. She noticed that one of the kids was the one that had crashed down on top of her. He had brown eyes and when he noticed Mousse was in the room, looked away blushing in embarrassment. He also carried a mop of black hair which was tied back in a pony-tail like the man beside him. A girl sat beside him that Mousse figured as his sister as she needled him with an elbow every so often. She had brown hair down to her waist and blue eyes that danced with a hidden laughter.

The woman motioned for her to sit down at the corner of the table and then sat down herself beside Mousse and next to one of the men. Mousse smiled uneasily as she was surrounded by people she had no idea who they were. Everyone at the table started to eat away at their food and Mousse just picked at the plate before her. It was then that the woman noticed Mousse's uneasiness.

"Is there something wrong with the food?"

"No, its not that. Its just..." Mousse trailed off as she eyed the rest of the people at the table. The woman instantly realized Mousse's situation.

"Oh we haven't introduced ourselves, have we? I'm sorry, It's not usual for us to have company that doesn't already know someone here. Well, I'm Akane Saotome..." she trailed off and looked to the man next to her expectantly. He looked as if he hadn't even noticed her and kept on eating. Her eyes flashed with anger and she elbowed him deeply into the gut. Recoiling from her hit, he was about to complain when he saw the look in her face and straightened himself.

"Ramna Saotome, her husband." He spoke out and then went back to eating from his bowl. Then the whole line of people began to address themselves, lest face the wrath of Akane.

"Shouji Saotome."

"Kisa Saotome."

"Soun Tendo, Akane's father."

"Genma Saotome, Ranma's father."

"Ryoga Hibiki, just a close friend."

"Taka Hibiki."

"Ukyo Hibiki, Ryoga's wife and Taka's mother."

"So now that we've said who we are," Akane said happily, "What's your name?"

Mousse looked around at the faces waiting for an answer and sighed.

"My name's Mousse."

The miso soup that Ranma had been sipping was suddenly turned into a shower over Soun, as Mousse's words had somehow surprised him. 

Mousse blinked confused at Ranma, What was wrong with that guy? All she had said was her name.

Akane again gutted Ranma with an elbow and then turned to Mousse. "So your name is Mousse. How nice! Thats not a usual name around here. How did you come to have that name?"

"My mother gave it to me before she gave me up." Mousse said nonchalantly and sipped her miso soup.

Ukyo turned to Mousse, "Gave you up? What do you mean?"

"Just what it sounds like. She gave me up for adoption fifteen years ago and now I'm here to find her."

"How do you know she came from here?" Soun questioned as he picked a mushroom out of his hair.

"Well, I have a piece of paper with an old address of hers on it. It said that it was in Nerima so I came here. It then led me to a small little café called 'Ming's Take-Out' or whatever but that was a dead end. The guy there didn't know anything. Now I'm up the creek."

Mousse took another sip of miso soup, not noticing the reaction. Everyone in the room, except the kids who went on eating, stopped what they were doing and stared in shock at the girl in front of them. 

"What?" Mousse said minutes later as she realized it had suddenly gone quiet in the room. What was with these people? Did they freak out over every detail or what!

Ryoga then quickly stood up and coughed once before speaking, "Well, I feel like a bit more training before bed. How about you guys?"

The rest of the men agreed simultaneously and then they were all gone in a heart-beat leaving Akane and Ukyo to deal with Mousse. The three children didn't even seem to realize or care that the men had run out, it was like they were used to it. Akane stared at the door they had vanished through menacingly, cursing under her breath at the men of her family.

"Did I say something wrong?" Mousse questioned, feeling a bit out of place.

Akane quickly turned to her, changing her expression to a smile from anger.

"Oh don't worry about them. Dealing with new people is not their best quality. Eat and run, that's all they know."

"Yeah sugar. Men, well especially our men, have no people skills and would rather fight than talk." Ukyo tried to explain as she relaxed on the floor. "They'll calm down in a while and speak to you sometime."

"If thats what you say." Mousse said as she tried to stifle a yawn. Akane noticed this and mentally hit herself.

"Don't worry about it. You must be tired if you've been traveling since this morning. How about I set up a room for you?" Akane smiled at the girl beside her.

"You'd do that for me? But you hardly even know me!"

"What has that got to do with anything? Besides you're in training for martial arts too, aren't you? As a training dojo for martial arts, we house whomever needs a place to stay." 

"If you say so. Thanks." Mousse said and then for the first time, sincerely smiled since she had entered the house.

"Ukyo, could you get the kids ready for bed for me? I know that Taka is going to want to stay the night. Why don't you two stay as well, instead of walking all the way back to the house? Never know if you'll get 'lost' out there at night." Akane questioned Ukyo as she stood up and moved towards the door way, motioning Mousse to follow.

"Sure, I'll get the kids ready for ya, but me and Ryoga are heading back home. Taka can stay here if he wants to so badly. We need a rest from that boy, especially now that we'll be having another soon enough. I just hope that the next one doesn't like to wander like it's father."

"Thanks Ukyo. I really owe you. Now Mousse, follow me upstairs please."

Akane started up the stairs and Mousse followed behind her, hesitantly at first. Akane stopped at a door in the hall and she pulled it open to show a plain and empty room. 

"Here we are. I know it's not much, but decorations aren't really our thing. You can stay here as long as you want. Kisa's room is across from you. Shouji's room is next to Kisa's on the left and our room is the last one down the hall. Don't worry about our fathers if they say anything strange to you, they do that time to time. I think they're going senile. Anyway, there's a futon in here..," Akane said as she opened a closet door and rifled through the objects, " And there's some sheets, blankets, and a pillow. If you need anything else, just ask me for it. Oh and the bathroom is down and to the left of the stairs. You know.." Akane paused as she pulled a futon out of the closet, "Its weird, but this was the room Ranma stayed in when he first arrived."

"When he 'first' arrived?"

"Long story...but again don't think you're too much trouble. Everything will be all right. This looks fine to me, so good night."

Akane placed the objects in the center of the floor, smiled at Mousse and then left the room, closing the door behind her.

"This family gets stranger and stranger every minute I'm here." Mousse said as she stared at the door, "Well, I can't say that every things gone bad. I have a place to stay for a while at least. Beats the hell out of living at the orphanage."

* * *

Well, there went another of my ideas for another Mousse and Shampoo fic. Seems that I'm on a role. I guess I'm just into the pairing right now, who knows, I could be totally into the Miroku/Sango pairing from InuYasha in a week or two and have three stories about them up here.

Please don't flame just because of the pairing. I don't flame people when they write fics between characters that would have NOTHING to do with each other and I ask you not to do that for me. If you don't have some thing nice or at least helpful to say, then don't say anything at all.

Thanks for reading though and hopefully I will finish both my fics soon.

^_^ (\/) cyancat


	3. A Sudden Change

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) cyancat ****

Forgotten Memories

Chapter Two - A Sudden Change

It was the first night she had spent away from the place that had been her only home and now, she felt a little homesick. Mousse rolled over on the futon Akane had given her and stared up at the ceiling. Maybe a stay on the roof until the sun came up would make her feel better. Opening the window, she grabbed the edge of the roof and pulled herself up. Treading slowly, she tried to keep quiet while she sat down on the crown of the roof and stared out at the sky.

Somewhere out there was her mother, she knew it. Mousse laid back and stared up at the stars. They were always so beautiful in the early morning hours and here she could see them more clearly than at the orphanage. Closing her eyes, she envisioned having a family like every one around her. A mother and a father. Maybe even a brother or sister too. But, she knew that was every orphan's dream.

"You're not gonna sleep on the roof are you?" 

Mousse's eyes popped open in shock and she quickly sat up to see Ranma sitting down on the crown of the roof also.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. I'll get off the roof right away!" Mousse frantically apologized as she stood up and started to walk towards the edge.

"Hey, hey. Easy there. I'm not here to scold you if that's what you think. Even I come up here at times to think. It's a good place to sit and listen to the wind."

"Are you sure?" Mousse hesitated.

"Yeah, I'm sure, now come and sit down. The sun is gonna rise in half an hour. Wanna watch?"

"Sure." Mousse said smiling softly as she walked back next to Ranma and sat down.

A few uneasy minutes passed by before Ranma decided to break the silence.

"So Akane tells me that you've been training since you were young. Any certain style?"

"Nope, not really. Just regular street fighting. Master Sousuke did teach me a bit of Jeet Kune Do though. I didn't get to learn much however. I left before we really got into training."

"Your master sounds like a great teacher. If he's even gotten close to mastering Jeet Kune Do, that says a lot about a man."

"Yeah he is a good man, so what does your dojo teach?"

"Us? Well, we call it 'The Saotome-Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial-Arts', but we try to teach our students on every level of fighting. Even Martial-Arts Cheerleading if the girls wanna try it."

"Wow, you guys must have your hands full."

"At times. Though don't let it fool you, we always have time to do more than train."

"It seems like you guys have had a happy life together. Having a family and friends around you all the time."

"You think our lives have been that good since day one? I assure you, Mousse, we've had more that our fair share of bad days in our past. The past between us...well its been more than a rocky road...more like a road filled with mines, pits, traps, and snipers. Regular warfare everyday it used to be."

"So what happened to change it all to be like this?"

Ranma pondered a moment, staring out into the dark city before he replied. "I don't know really. Maybe it was when two of our friends left, that we began to see things in a new way."

"Who were they?" Mousse asked, nonchalantly staring out into the sky.

Ranma stared at Mousse for a moment before shaking his head and standing up.

"Listen, the real reason I came up here is to warn you. If you happen to see a red-headed woman, a panda or a black piglet running around, don't freak out. It's usual life here."

He then turned to walk off the roof and he was just about to jump off when Mousse called after him.

"What are you talking about? A panda? A black piglet and a red-headed woman? Just what goes on here in this house?!"

"More than you could ever guess." He paused as if to contemplate something. "Maybe you should be told though. You may be here for a while."

"Told what?"

Ranma turned back to look at Mousse. "Something that you will eventually see for yourself. You see, long ago my father, myself, and Ryoga were cursed and now we change form whenever we get hit with cold water. Ryoga turns into a black piglet, my father into a panda, and myself, I...I turn into a woman with red-hair."

Mousse blinked in surprise at Ranma and stood up. "Riiiiiight," she said sarcastically, starting to walk over to Ranma, "And I'm supposed to believe that? I mean, COME ON! You have to come up with something better than a-"

It was then that Mousse's foot made the decision to slip on the loose roof shingle she had just stepped on. Causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards towards the edge of the roof and the ground, she screamed out in a panic. Ranma saw Mousse start to fall and jumped after her, knowing he wouldn't forgive himself if he let Mousse get hurt while living in his home nor would Akane.

"Mousse! I'll catch you!" Ranma called out as he jumped off the roof and pulled her into a protecting grasp as they headed down to the ground. He noticed the all to familiar pond that he had grown to know below them and silently cursed to himself. Seconds later they landed with a huge SPLASH into the pond, causing quite a racket as it awoke everyone in the house in a matter of moments. Mousse burst out of the water, straining for air.

"Ahhh....C..c..ccold! It's freezing out here!" Mousse yelled out as she rubbed her arms for warmth.

She was followed right behind by a red-headed woman, looking to be just as cold as she was. Mousse took one look at her, the water, and then back to the girl before screaming and trying to quickly scramble out of the pond and towards the backdoor. It was then that Akane opened the door, shining light into the back yard. Shouji, Taka, and Kisa stood behind her, clinging to her robe, scared but still curious at what was making the racket. The sight they saw was a frantic and wet Mousse scrambling to get to the door and Ranma, as a girl and sitting in the middle of the pond looking very concerned with her situation.

"Akane! I was on the roof and then I fell and then Ranma caught me and then we fell in the pond, but now he's not there and there's a girl there instead!" Mousse said as she hectically moved to get up to the house, pointing behind her at Ranma in the pond.

Akane laughed softly to herself as she realized what had happened and tried to quiet the girl before her. Standing Mousse beside her, she picked a twig out of her hair. "Mousse, you need to calm down. I can see if you're shocked, but you don't need to be so frightened." Akane then turned to the children behind her, "Kisa get some water heated for your father. Taka and Shouji, go get some towels for Ranma and Mousse. Its cold enough already out here, I don't want them catching a cold."

She turned back to see Mousse with a very confused look upon her face.

"What do you mean 'I shouldn't be frightened'? And why do you need hot water?" she said through chattering teeth.

Akane looked outside to the dripping wet girl standing beside the pond. "I think thats up for you to explain, Ranma-dear."

* * *

Some time later, the whole group found themselves sitting at the dining table again. A still shaken Mousse wrapped up in towels, sat beside Akane and stared across the table at girl-Ranma. Kisa walked in and placed a huge steaming teapot in front of her. Mousse watched unblinkingly as she reached out, brought the pot above her head and poured. Suddenly there was Ranma, no girl, just a man dripping wet and looking very remorseful at her.

"You were telling the truth?" Mousse questioned, leaning farther across the table to see better.

Ranma took a towel Shouji handed him and rubbed his hair with it. "I wouldn't lie about something like this. I knew you'd eventually see it sometime and I wanted to warn you. I guess it can be a shock to anyone when they don't realize whats happening."

"I'd have never believed it unless I saw it, I have to say. It's not a usual thing to be around you know." Mousse sat back and looked down at the floor. "Sorry for the way that I acted. I feel so stupid to be so scared of something like that." 

Ranma shook his head and smiled at Mousse. "Don't be that way. Everyone has moments that they regret. I have my own share of them, believe me, so don't make a big deal out of it. Just for next time, remember that hot water changes us back."

Mousse looked up to see Ranma smiling at her, not angry in any way. She smiled softly back at him, happy to be somewhere they were so trusting and not hurtful in anyway.

Akane spoke up, seeing the girl still shivering from the cold water. "Now then, since you've had a dip in that freezing pond, I want you to go and get into some warm clothes and go to bed. I will around when you wake up, so sleep as long as you want Mousse."

"Alright Akane. I am feeling a bit tired now that you say that. I haven't had much sleep for a while now." Mousse said as she stood up from the table. Walking to the stairs, she stopped at the doorway and then turned around, smiling nervously. "Though, could you show me which door it is again? I don't really remember which one it is."

"Sure Mousse." Akane said with a smirk and stood up. "Don't bother to ask if you forget again."

* * *

As Akane slid the door shut behind her, Mousse looked around the room once more. She then noticed something that she thought hadn't been there before. On a dresser sat a picture frame, containing a photo with several people in it. Mousse walked over and taking the photo, sat down on the futon and studied the people inside. She instantly recognized many of the people inside. There was Ranma with Ukyo and another girl clinging to his arms. Akane standing next to Ryoga with a weird look on his face. Some urchin of an old man jumping up. In the back, there was a boy with glasses looking very odd. Soun and Genma, she guessed as there was a large panda in the photo and she remembered what Ranma had told her, were there also. There were other people there that she recognized from photos hanging around the house she'd seen and figured that they were also family in someway. 

All the girls were wearing extravagant dresses and it confused Mousse. What in the world had happened here? She thought that Akane was Ranma's wife, but in here it seemed more like Ukyo or that other girl was closer to the role. Then there was the oddity of the girl hanging on Ranma's arm. There was something about that girl's eyes that caught her attention. They looked familiar, somehow. 

* * *

Mousse woke up with the sun shining on her face. Flopping over on her back, she let out a calming sigh and rubbed her eyes. She didn't even remember falling asleep, much less laying down. All she could remember was that photo she'd been staring at. She'd ask Akane about the picture today. If they were willing to tell her about the curses, they maybe Akane was willing to tell her about how they got together. From the sound of it, their lives was a story worth to be heard. And for one thing, anything was better to listen to than the old hum-drum stories that they had kept retelling at the orphanage.

There was suddenly a loud crash from below, which seemed to nearly rock the whole house. Mousse looked around, ready to see the sky fall, but all she heard was a familiar voice screaming out, "RANMA!! YOU IDIOT!!"

That was enough to spark Mousse's curiosity. Quickly she dressed and then ran down stairs, still holding onto the picture, ready to see a war happening. What she saw was Shouji, Kisa, and Taka sitting at the table, apparently doing homework. Confused she walked over to the back door, only to find no back door, but a wide and gaping hole. Akane stood outside holding some kind of hammer and was seething down on an unconsious Ranma who lay on the ground. Around them stood Genma, Soun, and Ryoga, all in dojo outfits and with mixed feelings showing on their faces.

"Umm...Akane? Is there something wrong?" Mousse said as she hesitantly stepped outside.

Akane quickly flipped around, surprised by the sound of her voice. She laughed nervously and walked towards her. "No, nothings wrong. Just had a little disagreement with Ranma, thats all." Mousse looked around Akane at the prone figure of Ranma with a raised eyebrow, "Don't worry about him. He'll be up in no time. He's just lucky I didn't knock him into the next prefecture. Come on, are you hungry? I'll make something nice for you to eat."

"Yeah, sure Akane. I'd love some food." Mousse said, still staring at Ranma while she followed Akane back inside the house, clutching the picture frame to her chest. She instantly made a mental note not to get Akane mad. If she did that to her husband, what would Akane do to her?

Back in the kitchen, Akane hummed as she pulled out a frying pan and started up the stove. "How about some fried vegetables? Or maybe some ramen noodles? Is there anything special you'd like to have?"

Mousse sat down on a stool in the kitchen and watched Akane."Whatever you make is fine Akane. I've learned to eat nearly anything I can get my hands on. " she said, amazed at how much Akane was willing to cook for her. No one had even been this close to being nice to her in all her life. "Even cold miso soup would do."

"Don't say that!" Akane turned around, astonished at the thought, "Not when you have a person here, willing to cook you a hot meal. Just wait a few minutes and I'll have something ready for you." Akane turned back to the stove and stirred the pan. "To think...I used to be so bad at cooking when I was younger. Nearly set the kitchen on fire quite a few times. My food never tasted very good and always turned out burnt whenever it got close to the oven or stove."

"Its hard to believe. From what I had last night, I'd never think you were like that."

"A lot has changed since we were young...a lot." Akane said in a recollecting tone.

"Oh, that reminds me Akane. I was looking at this picture of you guys and I was confused by a few things. Can I ask you something about the photo?" Mousse said and then laid out the picture frame down on the counter.

Akane grabbed a plate from beside her and then ladled the pans contents onto it. She then served it to Mousse and sat down beside her, "Sure Mousse. Ask whatever you want."

"Well, I was confused by a few things. In this picture, Ukyo and some girl are hanging onto Ranma's arm like they're his girlfriends while you're over to the side beside Ryoga. Why aren't you with him?"

"Oh my, this is an old picture that was taken at Togenkyo. This really takes me back, but you asked why wasn't I hanging on him, well, maybe I should just explain the whole story to you. Then you might understand. Let's see now, it was about, oh 20 years ago that Ranma first came to our house with his father. You see, before Ranma and I even knew about each other, both our fathers made a pact for their children to wed, it was an arranged marriage. When they did come by, I was picked as his fiancé because I was just about the same age as him."

"So you have sisters then? Which ones are they?" Mousse said as she inspected the picture, trying to figure them out herself.

Akane smiled warmly at Mousse as she sat eating and staring at the photo. Shaking her head she pointed out the rest of the people in the picture to Mousse. "You see here's Kasumi, my oldest sister, then Nabiki, second oldest."

"Now I see. So where are they now?"

"Now? Well, Kasumi got married to the local doctor, took him forever to get up the nerve to ask her. Then as for Nabiki, she's...she's more married to her money than anything else. Anyway, I am happy that they were there for me when I needed them most. Especially glad that they didn't choose to be engaged to Ranma."

"Where you happy to have a fiancé like Ranma?" Mousse said after another mouthful of noodles.

"Me, oh no. I was not happy at all, because at the time, I hated boys with a passion. My reason for that, a certain older classmate of ours by the name of Kuno decided out of his own stupidity and then announced to the whole school, that if any one wanted to go out with me, they had to beat me in a fight first before school started. You see my problem?"

"Yeah, I kind of see it. So a lot of boys attacked you while at school?"

"Yeah, but it was more like an army of them, everyday to say the least. But then Ranma came, and everything kind of settled after that."

"So these girls are hanging on Ranma's arm why?"

"OH! I went off track, didn't I?" Akane laughed at herself, "Okay then, umm, it was about maybe two years or so that Ranma had been here. I still wasn't ready to be pushed into a marriage yet, you realize. Then out of the blue comes Ukyo one day. She had been an old childhood friend of his, but the thing was, her father and Ranma's father made a little pact for them to marry. Well it never got off the ground, because Genma left suddenly and with Ukyo's fathers vending cart for the food he sold. Genma was always a glutton. Well, after she arrived announcing she was Ranma's fiancé, she never left. She always called him 'Ranma-honey' and defied anything that got in her way to be with Ranma and in so, hung on his arm at any opportunity. Understand a bit more?"

"I think so. So who's this other girl hanging on him? And this boy in the back with the glasses. I haven't seen any pictures of them around." she said pointing to the photo.

Akane turned to look at Mousse, concern showing in her eyes. "Why are you so curious all of a sudden about this picture?"

"Me? I guess it's because all of you look so happy, like a big family." Mousse leaned back and looked down at the floor, feeling a bit uncomfortable, "I just wanted to know what it was like to have friends and family like that. Sorry if I'm prying too much into your life. You've already done so much for me, I shouldn't be prying into something I know nothing about..."

"No Mousse, I'm sorry...I think I've been keeping something from you, that you should have known from when we first met." Akane put an arm around Mousse's shoulders and sighed heavily.

Mousse looked up in surprise. "You're sorry? For what? You've been nothing but nice to me!"

"Mousse, when you first came here you told us that you had been given up fifteen years ago and then you traveled here from an address you found which led you to a little café shop down the street, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You see, this girl here," Akane pointed to the one with long purple hair. "She was another of Ranma's so-called fiances because he accidently beat her in a fight. She was an Amazon woman from China and in their beliefs, that means the girl who lost is to wed the man that beat her. This other boy," she said and pointed to the one with glasses, "He followed her soon after, as he too was from the same Amazon village, saying he was in love with her and that he was supposed to marry her. She didn't feel the same as he did and usually beat him up for it. Understand?"

"So far, yes. What does this have to do with me?"

"They both left here suddenly for no reason that we could think up. We were all surprised by their leaving and at times we still miss them. Mousse, the reason I feel so bad about this is because...I never really figured it out until now. You see, this girl, her name was Shampoo and that boy's name was...it was Mousse."

"So that's why Ranma spit out his soup last night after I told you my name! That's cool to find out that someone else has a name like mine. Thought I was the only one with a weird name."

"That's not all Mousse, there is more to the story. We haven't seen this Mousse in sixteen years and its been about fifteen years since Shampoo suddenly left with her grandmother. They even owned a small eatery called the Cat Café that was located right where you first made a trip to yesterday."

Mousse could only blink at Akane in disbelief. Everything that she'd been wanting to hear for years was suddenly spilled out in front of her. She couldn't believe it all, it was happening so fast, almost too fast. "You-you-you mean..."

"Yes, Mousse. I think that they are your parents."

* * *

Well, how do you like it so far? This was just an idea that came to me one night while listening to the song 'Rain' by Dana Glover. Yes, I have a love for the Mousse and Shampoo pairing, but you have to admit, they would look really cute together as a couple. I'm a stickler for favorite pairings- so thats why Ryoga and Ukyo are together. Chapters will be usually long because I like a lot of detail and talk to invoke feelings and emotions.

Please don't flame just because of the pairing. I don't flame people when they write fics between characters that would have NOTHING to do with each other and I ask you not to do that for me. If you don't have some thing nice or at least helpful to say, then don't say anything at all.

Thanks for reading though and hopefully I will finish both my fics soon.

^_^ (\/) cyancat


	4. Time To Bring Up The Past

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) cyancat ****

Forgotten Memories

Chapter Three - Time to Bring Up the Past

Mousse could only stare at Akane. She couldn't come up with any words to say. The shock was still pounding into her. She looked down at the photo, trying to hide the tears that were building. These people were her parents? Then...then why would they leave her? If they were so happy here, then why leave their child?

"Mousse? Are you okay? I know it's a shock to learn all of this so fast." Akane squeezed her grip around Mousse's shoulders, trying her best to comfort the girl.

"Akane..." Mousse said, staring down at the photo.

Akane jumped at her voice, as she hadn't expected to hear it, "Yes?"

"You're sure that they're my parents?"

"Yes, I was a little uncertain for a while, but I know its true now. Everything just adds up to the same conclusion. The address, your age, even your name...everything adds up to Shampoo and Mousse being your parents."

Mousse quickly turned to look at Akane, tears starting to stream down her face.

"Then why would they leave me!? If they were so happy here in this town, then why did they leave me behind!? Why Akane?!" cried Mousse, and buried her face into Akane's shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.

Akane wrapped her arms around the crying child and rubbed her back soothingly. "I don't know Mousse...I don't know why." Her heart ached at how much pain the girl had probably gone through in her life. Being alone was never easy, especially for a child.

They sat there for a while, Akane holding Mousse close and saying comforting words. It was then that Akane realized that Mousse had stopped crying and was apparently asleep in her arms. Akane looked around, wondering what she was going to do now. She couldn't just leave the girl here, like this. She heard footsteps coming towards her and turned to see Ranma walk in. He had been ready to say something to Akane, but when saw the scene before him, he shut his mouth. Akane hurriedly motioned for him to come over. 

"Ranma," she said in a whisper, "Can you pick her up? She kind of fell asleep in my arms."

A little confused, Ranma walked over and picked up the sleeping girl, cradling her against him. "Just how did-"

Akane silenced him with a finger to his lips and gestured for him to follow her as she walked out of the kitchen. She lead him upstairs and to the room Akane had given Mousse. Ranma laid her down on the futon and stepped back. Akane kneeled down and pulled the blankets over Mousse, pausing once to look at her sleeping face. She then pulled Ranma out of the room before he could say anything. Closing the door, Ranma finally had enough of the silence and turned to Akane.

"What happened in the kitchen? Is there something wrong with her?" Ranma said out of concern for the girl. He had noticed Mousse's face as he had carried her, her eyes had been red and puffy from a long stretch of crying. What had made her start crying like that?

"She just found out who her parents are."

"So you told her?"

Akane nodded, looking at the door to Mousse's room. "She just wanted to know who her family was. I didn't want to keep it from her any more."

"You're sure that Mousse and Shampoo are her parents now? What about before when you malleted me for asking that same question?"

Akane turned to Ranma, pain apparent in her eyes, "When she asked about them and looked at me with those eyes, I knew she had to be. Those eyes are just like Shampoo's. Everything else thats she's told us has added up to the same conclusion. I can even bet that her birthday is a few days off from when we noticed that Shampoo and Cologne left here."

"So what are we gonna do about her now Akane? Let her stay here for now on?"

"I've got an idea, but first you have to go get our fathers and also Ryoga and Ukyo. I've got to talk to them all."

"What're you gonna tell them?"

"The truth and hopefully come up with an answer for Mousse."

* * *

"I see now how you came up with that conclusion, Akane. Even I saw the similarities between her and Shampoo. So what did you have in mind to do now?" Soun said as he sat across the table from his daughter. 

Genma sat beside him, nodding in agreement. Ryoga and Ukyo were there as well and had been focusing on Akane's explanation.

"Well, I have an idea to help out Mousse, but I'm going to need everyone's help. She needs some answers about her life and I think the only way to figure them out is to find Shampoo and Mousse."

"WHAT!?" everyone said as one. 

"You can't be serious, Akane! It's been at least sixteen years since we've seen Mousse and fifteen for Shampoo. Who knows where they could be by now!" complained Ukyo.

"Everyone, you've all seen how Mousse is. She is miserable being by herself for so long. She needs a family, but not our family. She needs the two people that should be caring for her right now! When she found out that they were her parents, she broke down crying asking why they left her behind. If I had left one of my children behind and they came to you for answers, you'd chase after me, wouldn't you? So why not for her?"

The room sat in silence from Akane's words. She was right, answers had to be found out no matter what the consequences. 

"So what do you want to do about this Akane? Its your plan." Genma spoke up, breaking the quiet. 

"Thats where you come in Genma. You and Ranma are going to find Shampoo."

"US?" Ranma exclaimed, "How are we gonna find Shampoo, Akane? It would have been easier to tell us to go find our cure!"

Akane turned to Ranma with eyes a flame with anger. "Because, you were the whole reason she came here in the first place! You and your father were at her village! If you could find it 20 years ago, I'm sure you can find it now!"

"Okay, okay, I'll do it." Ranma recoiled, scrambling away from his seat. 

"So what about finding Mousse? We don't even have an idea where he could be." Ryoga said as Ranma scrambled to get out of mallet distance.

Akane twisted around and smiled at the oblivious boy.

"You know, funny you should ask about finding Mousse, Ryoga. It just so seems that you would be the best one to find him."

Ryoga looked around him, as if there was someone else behind him that Akane was talking to. He looked back at her in a look of sudden realization.

"Me!? You want me to find Mousse? You can't be serious!"

"Oh, but I am Ryoga." Akane said as she stood up and walked around the room, "You're not known as the Lost Boy for nothing. Since you always happened to be in the right place at the right time, it would seem fitting for you to find someone that is lost to us."

"If he's going, then so am I." Ukyo said, putting a hand on Ryoga's shoulder and smiling at him, as if to calm him for he looked a little panicky.

"Ukyo, you can't. Not while you're in that condition!" Ryoga protested, his eyes wide with worry.

"My condition? I'm going to have a child, thats all!" Ukyo said as she placed a hand on her stomach, "It's not a rare oddity these days, ya know. I'll be fine, anyways I still have five months to go before I have the kid."

"But you..." Ryoga tried to object, but was silenced as Ukyo hugged his arm and looked up at him.

"You're not gonna try to keep me at home now are you, Ryoga-honey?" Ukyo said, batting her eyes.

"N-n-no, Ukyo-dear. I wouldn't dream of it." Ryoga said nervously, knowing full well what came along with that tone of voice and batting eyelashes. Ever since he went out with Ukyo, he found out that she had a side to her that could rival Akane's temper and mallet.

Ukyo turned to look over at Akane, whom was stifling a laugh at the pair and smiled. "Don't worry about us, Akane. Ever since I got him a cell phone to carry with him, he can't get that lost. If you guys have one, then we can call you whenever we find Mousse."

"So its settled then!" Akane exclaimed, "Ryoga and Ukyo will go to find Mousse. The rest will go to the village to find Shampoo."

"I'm coming too."

Everyone jumped at the voice and spun around to see who had spoken. There they saw Mousse standing at the doorway to the dining room, her eyes still a little red from before.

"Mousse, are you sure that you want to come?" asked Akane hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm not going to sit here like a child and wait while you bring them back. If you find them, then I want to be there to see them first. I have to find out why she didn't want me."

"You could be causing yourself more heart ache if you go and we don't find them, you know Mousse." Ranma remarked, arms crossed as if he was deciding a heavy matter, "If we do, I can't promise anything to go right or wrong."

"I know, Ranma. But I took the first step coming here to find my mother and I'll follow my path to its end, what ever may happen." Mousse said as she nodded her head and looked down to the ground.

"Fine then. As long as you know what comes along with this. Who do you want to try and find first? Mousse or Shampoo?"

Mousse looked up to see Akane, Ranma, Ryoga, and Ukyo smiling at her warmly. She smiled back and answered, "My mother...I need answers from her first."

"Then you're with us Mousse." Ranma said grinning and motioned for her to come and sit by him at the table.

Akane bit her lip in coming to a conclusion and spoke up, "If Mousse is going with you two, then I had better go along too. The tribe might not like two men alone with a young girl walking into their village. They might just get the wrong idea."

Soun then realized his situation, "So you're leaving me here alone?"

"Oh dad, you're not going to be alone. You'll be with the kids since we're going to need someone to take care of them." Akane said as she walked over and put her arms around her fathers neck in a hug, "You'd do that for your daughter, wouldn't you?"

Soun could only shake his head in agreement as he knew that he couldn't get out of this from Akane. Whatever she wanted him to do these days, he had to do it. It wasn't like the old days, where he was the knowledgeable parent and could give out the orders. No, now he just the over sensitive senile old man of a father to Akane. Well, he thought to himself, he could just call Kasumi to come over and help him out. She was always good with children.

* * *

It was three days after they had made the decision to trek out and find the missing pair. It was hard enough for Mousse to wait one day much less three without feeling like she wanted to go out by herself. But she remembered that these people wanted to help her out and that they had bigger leads than she did.

She stood with her pack beside her and watched as Akane, Ranma, Ryoga, and Ukyo said their good-byes to their children. Something pained her inside, wishing that her mother was there saying good-bye to her with a hug and kiss. Maybe after they found her, she could finally have that family she'd been wanting for so long.

Finally, with all good-byes said, the group headed off on their way. As they neared the train station, Ryoga and Ukyo parted ways, now daring to go the way of a lost man and intuition. For the rest, they set their sights on riding the train. They traveled as far as it would take them out of Tokyo before debarking. Heading west, the group was able to reach the shore in less than five days. It could have been sooner had a certain panda not gotten hungry and eaten a local vendor out of all his food. 

As they camped out that night by the shore, everyone was supposedly asleep but Mousse's mind had began to wonder. She walked out of the tent she was given and sat down in front of what remained of their cooking fire. What if her mother didn't want her? Maybe she had given her up as a baby because she was ashamed to have her. 

She sat staring intently into the fire, thinking deeply into her own perceptions. Ranma was awake as well and walking out of the tent, he saw at how intent Mousse was staring into the fire. Settling down beside her, he tapped her on the shoulder, waking her from her trance.

"I didn't think that the fire's remains were so interesting this time of night."

"Oh Ranma! I didn't notice you. I've just been thinking on a few things."

"I could tell. If your stare was the sun, we'd have a fire raging by now. What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing really, just that...," Mousse hugged her legs, uneasy from her thoughts, "What if my mother hates me and doesn't want to have anything to do with me? Maybe she's ashamed to have me."

"You think that Shampoo's ashamed to have you? Ha! Thats a lie if I ever heard one."

Mousse turned to look at Ranma, puzzled at his words. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Shampoo never gave up on a challenge even if her life depended on it. I think she would have been proud to have you as a child. There was no one that she loved more than Mousse."

"But Akane told me that Shampoo was also your fiancé. Didn't she love you instead of my father?"

"Akane was always my only fiancé and my first love. Anyway, Shampoo only loved me because it was her duty to. It was a minor technicality that I beat her, and so she knew that she had to marry me and love me. Though it was all fake. There were moments were she would let out her real feelings for Mousse, even though it'd only be for a minute and then she'd shut the door again."

"You really think so?"

"I know so." Ranma laid back on the ground and clasped his hands behind his head, "Shampoo was hidden, but no one can hide all their feelings forever. Just like you, I can see that you're really pained about finding Shampoo and Mousse. Scared, aren't you?"

"Scared? More like terrified. I'm finally fulfilling my dream that I've been having ever since I was little. Every orphan wishes that they could meet their real family or at least hopes to have one soon enough." Mousse rested her chin on her knees, starting to remember past days at the orphanage. They were both silent for a moment. Ranma looked over at the girl beside him, her face grim with memories.

"You should see that you have more with you than you think."

"What?" Mousse looked to Ranma, her face now changed to confusion.

"You carry traits that belong to your parents and I can see them clearly. You have Shampoo's eyes and Mousse's determination. There are so many details that tie you to them, you're closer to your parents than you think."

Mousse smiled lightly at that comment and trailed a finger in the dirt.

"So how did you turn out to be with Akane? How come you didn't choose Ukyo or some other girl to marry?"

"Me? Well it was more like I was forced to choose but I always wanted to be with Akane ever since I first met her. There was just something about her that pulled me to her. It was about two years after your parents had left. Ryoga and I were fighting as usual since he had a thing for Akane as well."

"Ryoga was in love with Akane?" Mousse snickered, not believing his words. Ranma sat up and held himself up with one arm while gesturing with his free hand.

"Yeah, I have to admit he was really sneaky too. Akane fell for his pig form, yet she didn't know it was him, so he got to sleep many a night with her in bed. Kami, how I hated him for that. Anyway, we were fighting and up comes this guy that says I did a horrible act to him. Like I humiliated him or something, I don't know. I didn't even remember the guy. So he shows us that he's taken capture of Ukyo and Akane. He then says that he's gonna kill them both in front of us. Well before I even know what I'm doing, I'm beating the guy nearly to death along with Ryoga beating on his henchmen. I save Akane before she's chopped in half by a huge blade and the same goes for Ryoga saving Ukyo. Thing is, I'm still so pent up with my feelings as I had just been beating on the guy threatening me, so I all of a sudden yell at her to be more careful and then I kissed her."

"What'd Akane do?"

"Well, she was shocked for a few moments afterwards. Actually everyone there was shocked beyond belief, even me for that matter. I guess something just clicked inside of me that caused me to let out my feelings for her in such a way. So afterwards, she starts to smile at me and kisses me right back. Now that totally knocks out Ryoga and he faints right there." Ranma said with a grin spreading across his face, "Ukyo revived him and brought him back to her place to take care of. Apparently during the fight, he got a really bad injury on his side and could hardly even stand without pain. So then starts our lives together."

"Wow, its like something you'd hear in a story book. So you guys have been happy ever since?"

"I guess, but even married life has its ups and downs. I'm just glad to have Akane with me. I was really lost before I met her. Funny, even after twelve years of marriage to her, it still seems like I just met her yesterday."

"So how old are Kisa and Shouji? I thought they were around my age. But it seems now that they're younger than I thought."

"They're not that much younger than you. Kisa was born a year after we were married. She's ten and Shouji's nine. Ryoga and Ukyo married about a year and seven months after we did. Then they had Taka, Shouji and he were born only a month apart from each other. Practically brothers it seems like at times. Now that Ukyo's going to have another child, Kisa is praying for it to be a girl. She's always wanted someone to be close to like the boys are."

"I had someone like that, I mean someone that was really close to me, back at the orphanage."

"What's her name?" 

"Kyoko, she's ten just like Kisa. We grew up together at the orphanage and kind of became sisters. I looked out for her when Ms. Inaba went on her rampages and she was there for me when I needed it. I hope that she's okay back there."

Ranma stood up and began to dust himself off. He then looked back up at the sky. "I'm sure she's fine. She's probably worrying more about how you're doing. Not much good happens to a lot of runaway orphans."

"She would do that. Always looking out for other people before she thought of herself. That was Kyoko everyday."

"Well, its late. I hope that your worries are calmed now. Are they?" questioned Ranma with a eyebrow raised in concern.

Mousse laughed to herself and stood up. "They are thanks to you Ranma."

"Good, now sleep while you can. We've got a boat to China to catch tomorrow morning." Ranma said smiling before turning back to his tent and heading inside.

Mousse watched Ranma close the tent door behind him before turning back to her own. How was it that they always knew what to say to her? It seemed like they were the perfect family. Maybe everything would turn out for the best. That night as Mousse slept, she had a dream of being with her family and actually living a loved life. She was not restless like many other nights, but slept soundly like never before.

* * *

Well, Hello again. Chapter 3 is here! And Four is soon to come. Next chapter will have thier trip across the sea to China and then the trek to find the village. Maybe they find Shampoo right away, maybe not. We'll see how far the chapter gets before I need to start another.

I have noticed some have mentioned that Akane seems a bit out of character, too nice. Well, I figure that she would have changed through her years in marriage to Ranma and having two children. Love really does conquer all, I believe. Anyway, she was always nice in the anime, wanting to help a lot of people that came along, so its not that far of a stretch.

Thanks for reading!! Please Review!! I love to see the count go up and up!!

^_^ (\/) cyancat 


	5. Finding A Hero In More Ways Than One

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) cyancat ****

Forgotten Memories

Chapter Four - Finding A Hero In More Ways Than One

"Mousse? Wake Up! It's already after noon."

Mousse felt her arm being shaken and blinked her eyes open to the semi darkness of their room. There stood Akane beside her bed, a twitch of a smile upon her lips.

"Already? I can never tell now that we have to sleep in a place like this." Mousse said as she sat up and stretched her arms.

"Once you come up on deck, you'll see for yourself. I figure you've slept enough for the day." Akane turned and walked to the door, holding it open beside her. "Come on."

"Let me at least change my clothes first, Akane! Geez, it's like you think I want to walk around with my night clothes on." Mousse yelled mockingly as Akane laughed, walking out the door. "Wait for me while I change."

Still laughing, Akane waited outside their cabin door and she thought about how so much had changed in their lives in such a little time. It had only been over a week ago that Mousse had been thrown into their lives and now they were on their way to find Shampoo. She never thought she'd ever be doing this, in any life time. Hearing the door handle turning, Akane turned around to greet the girl. As Mousse stood in front of the opened door, Akane stepped back and her breath caught in her throat as she was stunned by Mousse's appearance. Mousse had taken her long black hair and tied two buns on the top of her head. She also wore a green mid-length dress that was an imitation of Chinese quality along with a pair of black tights.

"Akane? Whats wrong?"

Akane blinked a few times before returning to reality and taking a relieving breath. "Nothings wrong Mousse. It's just that . . . you look so much like your mother that way."

"Really? I was trying to see how she was like when she was younger and I remembered that her hair was like this in the photo. Did I do it right? It still feels kind of funny." Mousse unconsciously touched the buns of hair, her face contorted with a look of troubled worry.

"No, you did all right. It looks okay to me, just like Shampoo used to do it." Akane comforted the girl with a smile. Mousse grinned back and the two started to walk down the hallway toward the upper stairs to the deck.

"So where's everyone else?"

"Where do you think? Genma's playing around for treats from the passenger's children and Ranma's at his usual post, the stern of the boat, away from everyone else."

Reaching the top door, Mousse opened it to unveil a blinding light shining into her eyes. Shielding her eyes and letting them adjust, she noticed that Akane's words were right. Over by another door on the deck was a giant panda playing with an inflatable ball while reaching out one paw for food that many of the children around him were holding or eating. Laughing at his foolishness, Mousse walked out and looked around with Akane behind her.

"You know, it's so nice to be out here in the fresh air. In the city, you have to deal with all the smog and stuff in the air. Never as fresh as it is out on the sea. It even makes me forget that . . . " Mousse trailed off as a sudden urge came over her. Her cheeks widened and she ran to the boat edge, bending over the rail with a sickening sound.

"...Forget that you get seasick?" Akane ended the open sentence, shaking her head in sympathy for the poor girl, heaving over the edge of the rail.

Akane then suddenly felt a hand grip her shoulder and without even turning, she knew that it was Ranma. 

"Seasick again?" Ranma said with a surprised tone in his voice.

"Yep, I would have thought she'd get over it by now. We've been at sail for two days now. I guess that's something she'll have to work on."

"By the looks of it, it's going to take a lot of work. Anyway, I wanted to tell you, the captain told me that we'd arrive at the port by tonight, so we can start searching in China beginning tomorrow morning."

"Good, you have any idea where to start heading?"

Ranma scratched the back of his head, failing to answer her question.

"You do remember how you got to the village, don't you RANMA?!" She turned to him, her eyes screaming at him that he was gonna receive a malleting he wouldn't forget.

"Heh, well thats the thing." Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "I never really noticed where the guide took us. We were just kind of there."

Akane put a hand to her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "Please tell me that your father remem–, never mind. Even he wouldn't. So, Mr. Genius, How're we gonna get to the village?!" she fumed at him.

Ranma stammered and stuttered for words as he tried to make up a plan. Before he could say something that meant anything, he noticed Mousse approaching them.

"Oh hey, Mousse! Feeling better?" Ranma greeted the stricken girl as she came closer to them. A peek out the corner of his eye confirmed to Ranma that Akane wouldn't let him go on the subject so easily, but he was happy to be out of the situation for now.

Holding her stomach, Mousse didn't look any better or worse than she had the first time she had gotten sick. "I think I'll be okay for now. Please tell me again why we had to go by boat and not by plane."

"Because these two guys have a thing against planes. And one won't even take a step on the plane and plus they won't allow pandas on a plane even if we could get him to go on the thing." Akane said as she eyed Genma menacingly as he begged for food.

"Right. Forgot about that." Mousse rubbed the back of her head as she felt a pain in her neck. "How much longer are we gonna be at sail? I don't know if I can take this much longer."

"We'll be at port by tonight. Not much more time before we're in China."

"Good, now I'm just going to get something to quiet my stomach. I'll be in our room if you need me."

Turning around, Mousse slowly walked toward the below deck doors. As she neared the doors, she heard the sound of Akane's voice yelling at Ranma. She smiled and wondered what Ranma had done now to deserve it. Well, it wasn't any of her concern, right now she wanted to find something to make her stomach stop from churning. She walked down the stairs and headed for their door. It was embarrassing enough that she got sick in front of everyone on deck, but every time she stepped outside it happened. Closing her eyes, she tried to forget the feelings that were making their way around her stomach. Suddenly Mousse crashed into a large object, banging her head against it and fell down to the floor. She heard a clattering sound in front of her and figured that the object had also fallen down.

"Owww . . . ," she complained, rubbing her head. Opening one eye to see what kind of damage she had done, she saw to her surprise a boy sitting on the floor, also in some pain. 

He slowly stood up and dusting himself off, he looked to her on the floor with a questioning look on his face. Mousse couldn't help but stare. She felt so embarrassed she couldn't even move. Great, now just chalk another one up on the list. Standing above her, the boy stood with his hands on his hips. He wore a long red and black robe with a pair of black slack pants. He had short dark green hair that fell over his blue eyes.

"Well, are you gonna sit on the floor all day or do you want me to help you up?" he said as he held out a hand.

Snapped out of her spell, Mousse only shook her head yes and grabbed his hand.

"So, do you normally walk around with your eyes closed?" he said after helping Mousse up.

"No, not usually. I'm so sorry. I was just trying to feel better and I figured if I closed my eyes and concentrated . . . "

"Although I think it made you feel worse, crashing into me and falling down like that. What're you sick from?"

"Oh, I get seasick VERY easily. I take one step outside and bleagh."

"Seasick? I've got something that'll help you. Want it?"

Mousse's eyes flashed wide in anticipation. "Really? If you have something that can cure me from this, then please give it to me. I'm desperate!"

"Okay then, hold out your wrists." He said as he held out his own hands.

Mousse looked at him, an eyebrow raised in question. "Hold out my what?"

"Your wrists. Close your eyes and it'll be fine. You won't be seasick anymore, I promise." 

"If you say so." Mousse said, giving the boy one more odd look before closing her eyes and holding out her hands, palms up.

She felt him take her hands in his, thumbs resting above her wrists. Then he suddenly jabbed his thumbs down into her wrist and did a quick twist. Mousse pulled her hands back as quickly as she could with him holding onto them.

"WHAT IN THE SEVEN HELLS WAS THAT FOR?!" she yelled at him, rubbing the sore spots on her wrists.

The boy just smirked at her and shook his head. "How do you feel?"

"HOW DO I FEEL? I FEEL LIKE . . . like I'm not . . . I'm not seasick anymore! Hey how did you do that!?"

He held up a hand, fingers spread wide. "Pressure points. Just have to know where to push and how hard."

Mousse looked at her wrists in amazement then back to the boy before her. "Whoa, where'd you learn how to do that? I've never seen anyone use pressure points before!"

"I learned it at my village. It's something thats quite usual for every person to know. In fact, I'm heading home now. Oh, but hey, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Tonic, and you are?"

"Oh, I'm Mousse. I'm sorry again about crashing into you. I really didn't mean for it to happen."

Tonic started to walk down the hall backwards, still looking in her direction. "It's okay Mousse. It happens. Just don't go walking with closed eyes again. Promise?" 

"Promise." Called Mousse back to him and watched him walk toward the deck doors. Something then suddenly urged her to go with him and not back to the room. She took off running and skidded to a walk as she came up beside him. He looked at her, bewildered that she followed him, but kept walking, a smile creeping up his lips.

Mousse looked at the floor, silent as they walked before she finally got the gumption to talk. "So where's home?"

"Out in the middle of the forests in China. It's just a small village that my tribe thrives in."

"What's your tribe called?" she sheepishly inquired, interested in this new information and to some degree, the new boy.

"The Joketsuzoku. We're an Amazon tribe to those that have to classify us."

"If you live so far away, what're you doing here?"

"I wanted to go on an expedition. Travel the world, see what there is to see, you know. Get a feel for the world before I have to deal with the rules and laws of tribal life."

"I see. Where did you travel to?"

"Let's see . . . ," he counted off on his fingers, "I've been to the Americas, both North and South. There's also parts of Africa and Europe. The first place I visited after I left home was India. I was just in Japan looking for someone. Despite the fact that I couldn't find the guy, I can't go anywhere else and have to head back to the village earlier than I planned."

"Sorry to hear that. Is it really that bad to live at your village?"

"Well, to some point it is and it isn't. With our people, guys are treated a lot differently than how you treat them. Women, since they are the major warriors, are the heads of the village. Men are the lower caste, so to speak. We stay at home and take care of everything that the women are not willing to deal with. We can train in fighting but we're not accepted as real warriors. Thats the main reason why I hate to go back. When I do, just because I'm of age, I have to be married to a girl there and I'm not really looking forward to it."

Mousse's heart sank. He had to get married? Geez, she hadn't even known him for ten minutes and already he was unavailable. And just when she was thinking that he was really cute too. 

"Why would you have to get married? I thought that people should choose for themselves who they want to stay with." Mousse said with a heavy heart.

"Normally the elders would let that be the case, but since I've turned seventeen, they've been on me to court a girl. I didn't and wanted to go on this trip. They agreed I could go as long as that when I returned, I would be married to whomever they picked. I took them up on the offer, at the time it sounded like a great deal. Now, it doesn't sound so great anymore." 

Tonic's face saddened and as they neared the doors, he paused and looked down to the ground before taking a breath and looking back up at Mousse. She was surprised at the change of expression on his face, moments ago, he had been sad and grim, his eyes soft with an unhappy reflection. Now his face showed no sign of before and he was smiling again. His eyes danced with a nervous laughter, showing that Tonic was uneasy about his predicament, but he wanted to hide it all.

"Well, I've been rambling too much about myself. It's only fair I learn more about you other than you can get seasick very easily. So where are you from?" Tonic said as he opened the door and walked out with Mousse beside him.

"China, I believe." 

"You believe? You don't know?"

"Well, I was born in Japan, but my parents weren't originally from there. They were from China and thats the reason why we're on this trip."

"We? So you're here with your parents, huh?"

"No, I'm here with some friends of mine. They're old friends of my parents. Hey there they are now!" Mousse pointed with a finger to the group before them.

Tonic stood amazed or at least stunned at the scene before him. A man in his early thirties was fighting with a very large panda, and it was actually fighting back with practiced martial arts moves! Although he could see that the panda wouldn't win against the man, Tonic tried to figure out how the panda knew how to fight like that! A large group of passengers had surrounded the incident, but it was still easy to see the events. Tonic then realized that Mousse had taken him by the arm in his amazed stupor and began to pull him toward the fight. There was one last jump high in the air by the man and then he came down upon the panda, knocking it through a pair of doors and down the stairs. Seeing that the fight was over, the crowd quickly dispersed to their own activities. Tonic then realized that Mousse was heading straight toward the man who had been fighting and beside him, a woman also in her thirties.

"Ranma! Akane!" she called out to them, "Look at me! I'm not seasick anymore!"

She skidded to a halt before them, a wide smile apparent on her face and her grip still on Tonics arm.

"That's good to hear, Mousse." Ranma said as he spied the young boy Mousse was attached to. With a raised eyebrow, he turned back to Mousse, "And just who is your new appendage?"

"Oh!" Mousse realized then that her grip was still tight on Tonic and quickly released him, "Sorry. This is Tonic! He helped me get rid of my seasickness! Now I can walk around whenever I want!" Mousse spun around a few times to indicate that she was telling the truth.

Akane smiled broadly at Mousse and turning, addressed Tonic.

"Well, Tonic, thank you so much for curing her. I just wish she had met you at the start of the trip. Maybe she could have enjoyed the time we've been at sail a lot better if she hadn't seen most of it from the deck rails."

"I was happy to do it. After how we met, I couldn't help but cure her."

"Just out of curiosity, how did you cure her?"

Tonic smiled and straightened his posture, proud of his abilities. "I used pressure points on her wrists. It's something that everyone at my village gets to know."

"Yeah!" Mousse spoke up, "He's from a village in China! They're called the Jokets-, Joukens-, Jokantsu-"

"Joketsuzoku," Tonic said, correcting Mousse with a laugh, "We're just a small Amazon tribe in the forests. Not that much really."

Both Akane and Ranma did a double take at Tonic, before looking at each other and passing unspoken words between them. Ranma then turned back to the boy, disbelief apparent on his face. "You're kidding right?"

"No, why would I kid about my village? I really am from the Joketsuzoku tribe." 

"Okay then. One question, do you have an elder by the name of Cologne?"

"Cologne? Yeah, she's an old one, but she's there. How do you know about her?"

Ranma scoffed at Tonic's question and began to laugh out loud, bringing out weird expressions from both Mousse and Tonic as they watched him. Ranma held his side and guffawed as hard as he could bear. This was just too weird and it had come straight to them! What wonders would cease now? Although, Akane was not laughing beside him and was merely waiting for the guy to stop. She smiled apologetically at Tonic and gave Ranma a swift kick in the shins, telling him to cut it quits on the laughter. Taking Ranma several more minutes to quiet himself as he had laughed himself into quite an uproar, Ranma once more turned to the boy, yet a smirk was still on his face.

"Oh, she's just an old acquaintance, really. It's still unbelievable . . . Tonic, would you mind guiding us to your village?"

"Why would you wanna go there? I don't even know if they'd allow you to enter the village."

Akane rolled her eyes, knowing Ranma wouldn't let that stop them. "Lets say we have some unresolved issues to deal with there. If it's a trouble to do it, we can pay you for guiding us. How about it?"

Tonic stared at Akane for a moment, pondering her words. "Okay, I'll do it, but when we do return, he," Tonic motioned toward Ranma, "has to tell the elder council that I'm his apprentice."

Ranma's face blanched a little. "That you're my what?"

"Come on. I've seen you fighting just a moment before. Even though it was just against a panda, I could tell that you're good and a master of a lot of techniques . . . And now that I think about it . . . how did that panda know how to fight?"

"Umm . . . " Ranma scratched his head, "There is an explanation, but it's too long to tell you, anyway. Why would you want to be my apprentice? You don't even know me!"

"Fine. You know me as Tonic. Who are you?"

"I'm Ranma Saotome and this," he motioned toward Akane, "is my wife Akane Saotome."

"Very well, I greet you Akane and Ranma Sao . . . to . . . me." Tonic went silent before turning a skeptical eye at Ranma, "Wait, you're not 'the' Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts, are you?"

"Yeah," Ranma said confused, "I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You possibly can't be him. I've been searching all over Tokyo for four days before I even got on this boat for Ranma Saotome! He was nowhere to be found! How is it possible that I find him . . . you here of all places?!"

"I've been gone with Akane and Mousse for the past week, Tonic. I can see why you didn't find me. But, why have you been looking for me?"

"I wanted to learn at your dojo. I heard about your fighting style and I thought it was incredible! I had to learn everything that you could teach me!"

"You want to learn at our dojo? But you're an Amazon! You're already masters of a long-known tradition in fighting!"

"But I want more! What I learned at home wasn't enough and they weren't willing to teach me anymore. What else can I do but leave the village and go out into the world? Besides," Tonic crossed his arms and stared back at Ranma, a challenging glint in his eye. "If you don't agree, I won't take you to my village."

Ranma crossed his arms as well, not wanting this boy to get the upper hand. "We could follow you, you know that."

"Then I won't go home right away. There are many detours I could take that only I know the passageways through."

Scoffing at Tonics words, Ranma switched to another tactic. "Someone else could take us there. I'm sure there are many guides in China that'd be willing to take the job."

"We don't let many people remember where we live and hardly anybody leaves the village other than on special occasions." Tonic came back, knowing he had Ranma in a pinch. "I'd think you'd have a lot of trouble finding a guide that would even go near our village."

Ranma stared down at Tonic, not willing to give up the fight, yet racking his brain to find another way to get the boy to guide them. The two were held in a staring match, neither wanting to back away from the fight. Akane waited until she couldn't take anymore of the stupid behaviors that the boys were carrying on. She quickly stepped between the two, blocking their view.

"He'll do it Tonic. I think he'd be honored to have an Amazon train at his dojo." Akane said, trying not to act out too violently, but at the same time delivered a severe blow behind her to Ranma's gut with her elbow. "Won't you Ranma!?"

"Do I have a choice?" Ranma said, still cringing back from Akane's blow. She then tried again to jab him, but he jumped back away from her and turned his back to them, regaining whatever he had left of his dignity. "Fine, I'll say he's an apprentice at the dojo. Will you lead us to the village now, Tonic?"

"Sure, I'd be happy to." Tonic said, smiling in victory. He then turned to the quiet Mousse beside him. "Now, since we have everything settled, how about we get something to eat Mousse? My treat. You're probably really hungry now that your seasickness is gone."

Tonic took her hand in the future hope of leading her to the diner. Mousse couldn't help but feel the blush rise on her cheeks as she felt Tonic holding her hand and seeing him smile at her in that way. "Ss..sure. That'd be great."

Now this time, Mousse was being quickly pulled away by Tonic holding onto her hand. As she followed along with her blush still red upon her cheeks, Mousse tried to cover it up as best she could with one hand. It felt weird for a guy her age to be acting so nice to her, as none had ever looked her way at the orphanage. But it felt nice to have a friend (especially a good-looking one at that!) amidst everything that was happening. Finally she could have someone to travel with that could relate with her. It still felt weird to travel around with just three adults that she hardly knew or at least two adults and a panda that she hardly knew.

* * *

Well, how do you like it so far? As you may have guessed already, I am pairing Tonic and Mousse together. The girl needs someone, Come On! 

Also if you have read my other fic, you may have noticed that I used the name Tonic again. It was the name of Mousse's father in 'When I Thought I'd Lost You.' Its just that I can't get enough of it. Tonic is such a great name, especially for Ranma fics!! Heck, I'd even name my son that, if it wasn't for the fact that it's a name for a hair product. 

Speaking of weird names, I've heard so many weird girls names these days, like Eden, Arien, Lexus, Sola, what is up with adults naming their kids like this?

Anyway, My love for the Mousse and Shampoo pairing has brought me further into the story. I hope to have another chapter or two up for both fics by the end of August. So please hold on! Even though its not that big of a deal to some, I am happy to see that people read my fics and LIKE them. 

Next chapter:

The group arrives at the Joketsuzoku village and finds Shampoo. Also an update on how Ryoga and Ukyo are doing in their quest for Mousse.

Thanks for reading though and hopefully I will finish both of my fics soon.

^_^ (\/) cyancat


	6. Bloodlines Of A Family

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) Cyancat ****

Forgotten Memories

Chapter Five - Bloodlines of a Family

It had now been two days after the boat had come to port at the harbor in Hong Kong, China. They had bought supplies and started out on their trek into the forests of China. Tonic lead the way with Ranma right behind him. The only reason he even let him have the lead was because only Tonic knew where to go. He just didn't want this kid getting the upper hand on him, Thats all. Akane and Mousse followed behind with Genma bringing up the rear. 

Now, the moon was full and high, the day slowly fading into a night sky. They had been walking since that morning and the tension between Tonic and Ranma was overflowing, causing everyone to feel the brunt of it. Finally Mousse decided she had enough of it. 

Plopping down on a nearby tree stump, she crossed her arms and spoke up. "So are we gonna stop and camp for the night? I'm really exhausted. We've been walking for so long, I don't know if I could take another step."

Ranma stopped and looked back at the group behind him. "I guess it is getting late. Tonic!" he called over his shoulder to the boy ahead of him. "We're stopping for the night. I suggest you start setting up your tent."

Ranma then took off his own pack and started to pull items out of it.

A bush rustled behind him and Tonic stepped out next to the group. "Fine. We're stopping for the night. You know, if we keep going on like this and stopping, it's gonna take us three days and nights just to get there from here! Now if we kept going, we could make much better time."

"Thats just you Tonic." Ranma said, not even bothering to look at the boy. "You can't expect everyone else here to keep at your pace."

Akane dropped her pack and clapped her hands together, wanting to get rid of the tension between the two. "Okay then boys, lets set up camp! We need to get a fire going. So Tonic, why don't you go and get us some fire wood?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Tonic said dropping his things and turning back toward the forest.

"Hey, wait up. I'll go with you!" Mousse called out. 

Tonic stopped and turned around, waiting for her to catch up to him and then the two disappeared into the woods. Akane smiled at the place where they had disappeared and then turned back to making camp along with Ranma and Genma. 

Ranma was busy setting stakes into the ground and Genma was occupying himself with the tent tarps and unfolding them. As she sat down and began to pull a cooking pot out of her bag, she watched Ranma and Genma bicker at each other, fighting at how the tents were supposed to be put up. She laughed at the two, nothing had really changed between them since she had first met them. They were still the same men she had grown to care for. It was then that Akane realized something.

"Ranma?" Akane questioned.

"Yeah, what is it Akane?" Ranma answered, yet was still glaring at his father.

"Do you think . . . Mousse knows about Mousse?"

Ranma blinked a few times trying to figure out the question. He turned to her with a perplexed expression. "What do you mean, does Mousse know about Mousse?"

"I mean, Mousse had been gone for a while even before Shampoo left. Actually if you really think about it, it's about a nine-month difference."

"Yeah, so . . . ?"

"I don't think that Mousse even knew that Shampoo had a child. I mean since Shampoo kept it from us during all that time and then we find out only a week and a half ago that she even had a child, maybe Mousse never found out."

"Yeah, I get that feeling too now that you really think about it. Then I have to question, why hasn't he come back? I mean if he really loved Shampoo as much as he did, why never go back to her after what happened between them? I just don't understand that."

"Maybe he couldn't face the girl after what happened between them. Maybe he believed that what he got wasn't the real feeling that he wanted from her." Genma said frankly as he stretched out a tarp.

Ranma shook his head at his father. "Pops, you really have to straighten out your priorities. Mousse would never think that about Shampoo. He really loved her too much to believe that she would do something like that to him." He then began to pound another stake into the ground and Genma just shrugged his shoulders.

* * *

Tonic just about had a full pile of firewood stacked up in his arms and he waited while Mousse came back toward him with more pieces to pile up. Placing them on top, she paused and looked at the stoic face that Tonic had. He appeared to be off in another place as he didn't really seem to see Mousse in front of him.

"Tonic? Is everything alright?"

"Hmm? What'd you say?" Tonic said, not really even bothering clearing his eyes.

"Are you okay? I mean, is there something bothering you? You've changed a lot since we met on the boat. You've been more distant and impassive to me . . . I mean us."

Tonic blinked a few times at Mousse and then looked away. "No nothings wrong, really. I've just been thinking a lot about home. We're getting closer to my village and I'm just wondering what they're gonna do when I return."

"But I thought that was why you've got Ranma to say you're his apprentice. Isn't that a good enough reason for them?"

"I really don't know. I've never been in a position like this before, but I know that I don't want to spend the rest of my days at the village. I want to be in the outside world, learning and training as much as I can." Tonic sighed. Mousse then saw the look that Tonic had that first day she met him, a face full of worry and eyes that were troubled. "But the decision is up to the village elder council and to defy them would be to denounce my life as an Amazon."

Mousse looked away, embarrassed that she said anything at all to him. "I never knew a person's life could be like that. I'm sorry that I brought it up." She figured that she was just bringing up more worries for him to deal with.

"Hey," Mousse looked up at the sound of Tonics voice and once again met his eyes, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure that everything will be alright in the end. So how about we get this firewood back to camp? I'm sure Akane is waiting for us." Tonic said turning around and waiting for Mousse to join him. 

Mousse sighed, as she knew that Tonic still carried troubles around him yet he was trying hard to hide them from her. She walked up beside him and then the two headed back to the camp.

* * *

Around the same time, but at a completely different place, stood Ryoga and Ukyo. Their travels had gone all over it seemed, but Ukyo didn't let that trouble her. Eventually they would find what they were looking for. They had traveled all over Japan at first, heading through Kyoto and Hiroshima. Then they boarded a plane and headed for what Ukyo thought was Beijing, China, but as they arrived at their destination, realized that they had landed in Sydney, Australia. Apparently, Ryoga had gotten the wrong plane tickets. After that, they went all over, even Ukyo couldn't keep track of all the places they'd visited.

But now, Ukyo knew where they were and that they might have a chance of finding Mousse. Ryoga took out his cell phone and called up Ranma.

"Yeah?" said a very tired voice on the other side of the line.

"Ranma, I think we found him."

"Found who?"

"Mousse! For crying out loud, what have you been doing?"

"Sleeping! I didn't really expect you to call us in the middle of the night, Ryoga!"

"Well it isn't night here." 

"Whatever, so you think you found Mousse?"

"Yeah, I'm positive about it."

"As positive as you were those other three times you called saying you found Mousse, only to call back later and tell me it was a false alarm?" Ranma said sarcastically.

"Come on, give a guy a break." Ryoga said, but was interrupted as Ukyo took the phone away from him.

"Don't worry about it sugar! Even I think we found him this time. Those last three times were just because he acted without me knowing about it. Ryoga knows not to do that again."

"So you're really sure that you found him then!"

"Yeah, to a point. We think that he's joined up with the circus again. We found a poster boasting about a martial artist that could hide any weapon in his robe sleeves. Know anybody else that can do that?"

"Not really. So where are you exactly?"

"Us? We're currently going to be on our way to China via plane. We're in the United States and it seems that the circus Mouse is with travels all over the globe. They must be really popular if they can do that. Anyway, the next place they set up is outside Shanghai and we're going over to check it out."

"Good to hear. We're close to getting to the village and hopefully finding Shampoo. Although if she isn't there, I have no idea where to begin in looking for her. Mousse is really looking forward to meeting her."

"Good luck sugar, because you'll need it. I'll call back if we do find Mousse. But do you want us to just stay with him or confront him?"

"If it is him, and I can't possibly believe that it isn't, get him back to our house. I don't care how you do it, knock him out if you have to, but it's a neutral ground where we all can figure out everything. We'll be doing the same with Shampoo, but I don't know how she'll react toward us confronting her about Mousse."

"I guess Thats life. Okay then we'll call you later. I think we'd better let you guys get back to sleep now."

"Thanks, . . . but hey Ukyo!"

"Yeah, what is it Ranma?"

"Don't mention anything to Mousse about Shampoo or having a child or anything like that to him. We don't know how he'll react to it and I think we need both mother and daughter there for him to see the truth about whats been going on here. Got it?" 

"Right! Not one word to Mousse about Shampoo or Mousse. Understand Ryoga-dear?" Ukyo paused as she waited for an answer from Ryoga. There was a yelp of pain on the phone and then a meek, "Yeah, I'll remember! You don't have to hit so hard ya know."

Ranma laughed inwardly at the pair, even over the phone he knew how Ukyo reacted toward Ryoga when he didn't listen to her. "Good work then Ukyo. Just remember to make sure you call us when you do find him."

"Allrighty then, sugar. Will do!"

The phone cut out with a beep and Ranma put the phone back in its place in his pack. With a tired sigh, he laid back down next to Akane, who hadn't even stirred during the whole conversation. They were getting closer to the end of their journey, hopefully. 

Outside the tent, Mousse had stirred from the phone's ring. Stepping out of her tent, she walked around the grounds, mostly just wondering about what was to happen soon enough.

"What're you doing up, Mousse?"

Mousse stopped dead in her tracks and slowly looked around her, a frightening chill running up her spine. The thing was, she couldn't figure out who or what had spoken out to her.

"Who..who said that?"

"Me."

"Who's me?" 

"Who else, Tonic!"

"Tonic? Where are you?"

"Up here in the tree!"

Mousse looked up above her to see Tonic's figure silhouetted in the dark in the moon's light. There was a smile on his lips as she guessed Tonic found it funny that she was scared and all it had been was him.

"What're you doing up there and at this time of night?"

Tonic jumped down off the tree limb he'd been resting on and landed in front of Mousse. "I don't usually sleep that much when I'm traveling and I'm keeping watch."

"Keeping watch for what? Demons?" Mousse said playfully.

"More like tigers, snakes, and leopards." Tonic said nonchalantly. "There are a lot of animals around that don't like new intruders into their territory."

"Oh, umm.. they wouldn't come by here, would they?" She anxiously questioned, starting to nervously walk back and forth in a small area.

"Not actually, it's just a bad habit of mine to keep watch at night." Tonic said as he watched her start to pace.

"Good, I don't think I'd have slept anymore if I knew there were animals around like that." Mousse said, but didn't stop her tempo.

"How about you sit down? Your pacing is gonna make me dizzy." Tonic said, tapping a space on a fallen log that he had sat down on.

"Sorry, I tend to do that when I'm nervous." Mousse sat down and after a moment looked up at the sky. "You know, the stars look just the same as they do at home-I mean the orphanage. Seems that they never change even when our life goes in a whole different direction. It's like they're all we have to rely on for guidance."

Tonic looked up at the sky as well, intrigued by Mousse's words, "Never really thought about it like that."

Mousse hugged her knees and rested her head on top of them. "So is it really gonna take us three more days just to get to the village?"

"Nope, we'll probably be there by tomorrow night, actually."

"Ranma really isn't going to like to learn that you lied to him."

Tonic pulled up a weed beside him and began to chew on an end. "Ah, he needs it. He's been on my case the whole time since we met on the boat. It's like he doesn't trust me or something. Always fighting my directions and telling me what to do like a child! I am not some kid! I've traveled all over and I know how to get around."

"Well, my old master used to say 'To find a student's strength, you must first challenge his weakness.' I never really understood him and his sayings but I think that fits."

"Yeah right!" Tonic scoffed and stood up, kicking at the dirt. "I have weakness's?"

"Everyone has something of a weak point. Ranma's probably been trying to get you out of the funk you've been in since we landed. Although I know now why you're acting like that, he doesn't. So I think that he's trying to help you forget whatever it is by fighting. Take your mind away from the problem and put your troubles on him instead."

Tonic looked down at Mousse whom was still staring up at the sky and smiled lightly. How was it that she always knew what to say to him whenever he felt down? Mousse then noticed Tonic staring down at her and looked away in embarrassment.

"Sorry, I babble a lot. I can't seem to keep my mouth shut."

Tonic sat back down and leaned back against the log. "You shouldn't worry about it. A lot of people are like that, you even sound a lot like a person I know. Oddly enough, you both have that same violet sparkle in your eye. Thats always an oddity that sticks out to me."

"Oh I do? So who is she? A relative?"

"Oh no, no." Tonic shook his head. "I'm not related to her. She's a grand-daughter to an elder, so in responsibility to the village in the future hopes of becoming an elder, she has to help out with a lot of the teachings and activities. She's become the top teacher in martial arts. She's even taught me a lot in fighting and she's become our best warrior."

"Maybe I could meet her. She sounds like a great teacher."

"We'll see when we get to the village. She likes it better to spend time alone, although I've never understood that. Shampoo always seems to be in some kind of pain, I just don't know what from."

Mousse suddenly turned on Tonic and grabbed his shoulders in a vice-like grip.. "Shampoo? Her name is Shampoo? Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I've known her since I can remember. Why?" Tonic answered back, staring down at Mousse's hands that were clamped around his arms.

"And you say that I remind you of her, right?" Mousse said, shaking him as she talked.

"Yeah, in a lot of ways, but what has this got to do with her name? And could you let me go, I think I'm starting to loose feeling in my arms."

Mousse released him as she realized what she was doing. She began to pace again in a circle, her face furrowed in thought.

"Mousse, just what is wrong here? So what if her name is Shampoo! What's it got to do with you?" Tonic said, very confused at the moment.

"Tonic, my mother's name is Shampoo! The whole reason we're going to your village is to find my mother!" she said, turning on Tonic.

"What? They couldn't be the same person...could they?" he said, an eyebrow raised in concern.

She rolled her eyes and stepped up close to Tonic who had stayed where he was on the ground. "Well, you were just comparing her to me, telling me how much I sound and look like her, how much closer can you get than that? Tonic, there's no other explanation."

"But Shampoos never been married and no one has ever said that she's had a child! She's been at the village as far as I can remember and she's..."

"She's what?" Mousse said defiantly, crossing her arms and staring angrily down at the boy, waiting for another explanation from Tonic.

Tonic stared at her for a moment, studying her face. He then shook his head in disbelief, while standing up and laughing to himself. "She really is your mother, isn't she? When you look at me like that, I see her face. Like the many times from before in my life that she's stared down at me from training."

"So you believe me then?" Mousse's face softened.

"Yeah, I guess I do, but..." Tonic trailed off in thought.

"But what?" 

"Then why hasn't she ever spoken about you? Why leave you behind in Japan?" he questioned.

Mousse looked down to the ground, feeling tears start to well up inside. "I don't know... Thats why we're going there, to find her and get an answer."

"Oh, I see." Tonic paused, searching for words to say. "Well, you guys can stay at my home while we're in the village and I'll help you all that I can."

Mousse looked up, stunned at Tonic's words. "You'd do that?"

"I'm taking you guys to the village aren't I? I wouldn't do that for just anyone, anyway I feel that it's a duty of mine to help you out. I mean, we're both Amazons, aren't we?"

Mousse looked at Tonic for a moment before a smile spread wide across her face. Rushing with her emotions, she threw her arms around Tonic's neck, hugging him tight. Tonic stumbled to say something to Mousse as he didn't know what to do with her hugging him like this. He could feel his face getting red and he was glad that it was night, so that Mousse couldn't notice it. But before he could say anything, he felt Mousse tighten her hug around him. She then whispered a quiet 'Thank you' in his ear before kissing him on the cheek and running back to her tent without a backwards glance. Tonic stood there, stunned into silence and raised a hand to the place were Mousse had kissed him before turning and heading towards his own tent.

* * *

A woman practiced her skills inside a large room inside a prominent building. She gracefully moved about the room with her eyes closed and skillfully took out her targets without opening an eyelid. She stood still for a moment before she felt a presence in the room and they were feeling very uncomfortable. She sighed and straightened up from her pose.

"Yes, Po Mai, what is it?"

The girl shifted her stance, knowing that she was a disturbance to her teacher's time alone. "Well, there is someone here to see you Xian Pu. They've been very persistent in wanting to see you now. I really didn't want to interrupt your practice, but she wouldn't let me go unless I agreed to get you. I really didn't want to interrupt you, as I know how angry you get when you're disrupted..."

"Don't worry about it Po Mai, just send her in." 

"But...but she's an outsider." Po Mai tried her best to explain the situation. "Would it really be wise for her to enter the training hall?"

"Now why would an outsider want to see me?"

"I...I don't know, but this woman is quite unusual. She speaks defiantly and she has bright red hair with a ponytail. Quite unlike I've ever seen."

As soon as Po Mai's words left her lips, something clicked inside Shampoo's head, telling her something she had long forgotten. Shampoo's eyes opened wide with shock at the description. "Where is she now?"

"I told her to stay in the observatory room, I thought it would be better for her not to enter your training hall."

"Good job Po Mai, you may go back to your duties now. Do not worry about me or the stranger, I will take care of it."

"But Teacher-"

Shampoo interrupted, not wanting to deal anymore with the overanxious child. "Go Po Mai, leave me!" 

"Al right then. I'll be around if you need me." She said meekly, fearing that she had upset her instructor.

Shampoo waited until she heard Po Mai's steps fade as she walked away from her door. She headed towards a closet by the wall and opened it to reveal a cast array of weapons. She took out a pair of bon bori's and headed out into the hallway and down towards the room that Po Mai had told her the woman was in. She kept repeating Po Mai's description in her head. Bright red hair, ponytail. Bright red hair, ponytail. Bright red hair, ponytail. 

There was only one person that she could think of that resembled that description and she...he had been left behind long ago. There was no possible way that he could be here now. So that left only one reason open to her, someone was trying to play a joke on her. Many people had known of her past grievances with a red haired woman. So now, even after all these years, she was ready for it, and who ever was there was going to get the beating of their lifetime.

Arriving at the specified room, Shampoo shoved the door open but froze as she saw who was there inside. He stood with his back to her, staring at a piece of art on the wall while rocking back and forth on his heals. 

"Ranma?" she said faintly, questioning what was before her.

He turned towards her at the sound of her voice and smiled warmly. "Hey Shampoo. How's it going?"

Shampoo dropped the bon bori's in her hands and stared gapingly at the man before her. Her mind raced to figure out why he was there. Why? Why was he here?!

* * *

Well, there's another chapter to my reading public.

I hope to have another chapter or two up for both fics by the end of August. So please hold on! Even though its not that big of a deal to some, I am happy to see that people read my fics and LIKE them.

Next chapter:

Ranma surprises Shampoo with a visit and then its up to everyone else to convince her whats right to do for Mousse. Also how Mousse reacts to seeing Ryoga and Ukyo at the circus.

Thanks for reading though and hopefully I will finish both of my fics soon.

^_^ (\/) cyancat


	7. Remember Me

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) Cyancat ****

Forgotten Memories

Chapter Six - Remember Me

"Ranma?" Shampoo searched her mind for the forgotten language that she had used so long ago. "What...What are you doing here!?"

"I'm here to see you. Isn't that apparent?" Ranma approached her, noticing that she had hardly changed since he last saw her. Though her hair had been cut to shoulder length and hung loosely around her face, she seemed as young as he had last seen her.

"But..." Shampoo studied Ranma as he stood before her, "Why after all this time?"

"Well, it's a long story. But, what's with the bon bori's?" he said pointing to the ground.

Shampoo looked down at the floor where her weapons lay by her feet. She looked back up at Ranma with an wary expression. "The girl that brought you in here told me there was a woman in here with red hair and a ponytail. I figured that it was someone playing a joke on me and wanted to teach them a lesson."

Shampoo walked past Ranma and lifted a kettle beside where Ranma had first been standing. "Came prepared, I see."

Ranma laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, well I found out that I couldn't even get in to see you as a guy. That girl wouldn't even let me get close to the building. But change to a woman and all doors are open to me."

"Po Mai is set by the rules we make and she hardly makes exceptions. Her mother is an elder also, so she tries her best to be the perfect Amazon. It gets aggravating after some time though. So tell me, why are you here?"

"You get right to the point, don't you?" Ranma sighed and crossed his arms. "Well, actually, I've come because of Mousse." 

Shampoo quickly spun around, turning her back to Ranma, more to hide her face than anything. Even the mere mention of the name caused her face to flush after all this time. She crossed her arms firmly and set back her shoulders. "Well, what is it about him? Has that duck-boy finally come back? Does he want to be forgiven for being gone so long?"

Ranma looked at Shampoo, confused at her words. "Shampoo what are you talking about? I don't mean him."

"Then who else are you talking about?" she questioned, her heart starting to race.

"I'm here because of your daughter, the one that you named Mousse."

Ranma saw Shampoo's shoulders jump at the mention of the word 'daughter.' Yet she straightened her pose and raised her head. "What daughter?! I have no child!"

"What about the girl that was left behind in Nerima over fifteen years ago? This girl, called Mousse, is looking for her mother and I believe I just found her." 

"Why would you think that I'm her mother?!" Shampoo threw her arms around in anger. "You never saw me in that condition, did you?"

"No, but you were hardly ever around for us to see back then. Shampoo, even her birth date is days before we realized you had left Nerima." Ranma said imploringly, trying his best to convince her of the truth.

Shampoo seemed to shake for a instant before she spoke again. "That is just a coincidence! It doesn't prove anything!"

"She even looks like you, there's no lying about it. She has violet eyes like yours and her hair is just as jet-black as Mousse's wa-"

"ENOUGH!" Shampoo interrupted, her shoulders starting to sag with grief. "Enough about that...that boy! He has left for good and thats all there is to it!"

"Is that what this is about? Mousse leaving?" Ranma walked up and stood behind Shampoo. "Just what was the reason that he left Nerima? I mean, if he loved you as much as he said, why leave you after what had happened between the two of you?" He put a hand on her shoulder, but as soon as he made contact, she batted it away and walked to a window, staying far from Ranma.

"Shut up! Get out of here!" she yelled.

"Shampoo, you can't deny her-"

"LEAVE NOW!" Shampoo screamed at the window, wishing that it was Ranma's face, but she couldn't bear to look at him now.

Ranma paused for a moment before sighing and then headed towards the door. He stopped for a second and turned back toward Shampoo at the window, "I'm not leaving because you're telling me to. I will be back and I won't leave until you understand what is going on."

With that Ranma stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him. As soon as Shampoo heard his footsteps fade away, she dropped to her knees on the floor. Tears streamed in rivers down her cheeks as she put her hands to her face. 

She looked back down at her hands, wet with her tears. "Why? Why do I cry for him? What happened then has brought me nothing but pain. I lost the two people that I loved the most and I couldn't even grieve for them! Why is it that I have to endure such pain? What did I do to deserve this? Mousse, WHY DIDN'T YOU COME BACK TO ME?!"

* * *

The door slammed behind Ranma as he entered the house that was Tonic's home. He pulled out a chair and slumped down in it, hanging his head in defeat. He then slammed his fist down on the table beside him and stared angrily at the floor. Akane appeared from the kitchen door and walked up next to him.

"How'd it go?" she said as she leaned on his shoulders.

"How do you think it went? It was horrible! She denied everything about having a daughter and she nearly threw me out of the place. Screamed her head off at me, yet..." Ranma looked up at Akane beside him. "I think I figured out a little bit about what happened between them for Mousse to leave. She did ask at one point if he was wanting to be forgiven for being gone so long. I think she was expecting him to come back after some time."

Akane wrapped her arms around Ranma's neck, trying to comfort him. "You really think that he was supposed to come back?"

"Thats what it sounds like. The question is, why didn't he come back?" Ranma looked around the room, "So where's Mousse?"

"Tonic took her into the market to get some food. Did you want her for something?"

"Kind of, I think that she may have to confront Shampoo herself. I didn't tell Shampoo that anyone else was here but me, so she won't see it coming."

Akane sighed and looked behind her to the door before turning back to Ranma. "Are you sure that's the right thing to do? It may really traumatize her if Shampoo denies everything right in front of her."

"It's a chance we're going to have to take and Mousse knows that or else she wouldn't have come with us this far." Ranma put a hand on Akane's arm, "Shampoo has to face her past. She can't keep it hidden any longer."

Akane nodded her head in agreement and stayed beside Ranma, her arms still around his neck.

* * *

Mousse looked around her in wonder at the village surrounding her as she followed Tonic through the streets. Everything looked so wonderful, so different from the droll buildings that she had grown up around. Here they were alive with color and life with the forest surrounding them. It was the perfect frame with such a vivid green that she had never thought was imaginable.

Tonic looked over his shoulder and smiled at the awe inspired girl behind him. He hadn't really expected to be like this, but it was fun to see how she reacted to this place. Here was his home and Mousse saw it in new ways that he had never really looked at before.

"Mousse? Are you coming?"

"Eh?" She replied, not really listening to Tonic as she stared up at a painting hanging outside a home. A young girl stood in a field surrounded by exotic flowers while two nearly transparent dragons flew in the brilliant blue sky.

Tonic shook his head and walked back beside her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, which brought her out of the daydream state she had been in. She blushed a little in embarrassment as she realized what she had been doing.

"Sorry, it's just so beautiful. I couldn't help but stare."

Tonic looked up at the painting and sighed in recollection. "Don't blame you, my mother painted that."

"You're kidding! Your mother did that!?" She said shocked out of her mind, while pointing to the painting.

"Yep, she was a great artist. She was the best in the world to me, but others didn't see it the same way."

"So where is she? I didn't really realize it when we got to your home, but where is your mother?"

Tonic hung his head. "She's dead."

Mousse put a hand to her mouth in regret of what she said. Damn, why did she have to be so insensitive? "Oh, I'm sorry, I...I didn't know...forgive me for asking."

"No, its alright." Tonic said, smiling lightly at Mousse. "Its been about ten years since her death. I've been in the care of the village since then and I've grown to accept her death like an adult."

"But I shouldn't have pried into your life like that."

"You would have found out eventually. Anyway, she's in a better place. Now we should get to the market. I still have to report to the elder council before they find out I'm here."

Tonic started walking away from the house and Mousse trailed behind him.

"Right, I forgot about that. You still think that they'll let you off the hook as an apprentice to Ranma?"

"All I can do is hope. I just don't want them deciding my life for me. They've done that since my mother died and now I want to do what I want and no longer have to go by their decision."

"Then I'll hope too. Its better than to think of worse things to come, isn't it?"

Mousse waited for an answer from Tonic but received only silence. Looking up at Tonic's face, she noticed that he was frozen in place and was staring straight ahead with an intensity that she had never seen in a person's eyes before.

"Tonic? Is there something wrong?"

Tonic mumbled under his breath words that Mousse couldn't understand. She then noticed a tall warrior striding towards them with a spear in her grip. She stopped before Tonic and stared down at him, either of the two not saying a word. Mousse looked back and forth between the two, trying her best to figure out what was happening. Crowds around them seemed not to notice the two people in the middle of the street in a staring match and went on with their duties. Mousse noticed as another woman started to approach them from the crowd also carrying a spear in her hands. She tugged on Tonic's shirt, trying to get him out of the stare down.

"Tonic! What in the hell is going on!? There's more people with spears heading this way! Snap out of it already!"

Tonic did not look away from the gaze of the woman in front of him, but spoke to Mousse in a mellow tone. "They're not here to hurt us, only to escort me. Don't worry about me, just go back to the house and tell them I'll be back soon."

He nodded his head at the warrior, who turned on a heel and started to walk away clearing a path for her way. Tonic started to follow, but was stopped as he felt himself being pulled back by the scruff of his shirt.

"Oh no you don't, Tonic! You are NOT leaving me here in this town by myself!" Mousse yelled angrily at him as she pulled him back next to her. Tonic blinked a little in surprise at how she had actually pulled him all the way backwards to this spot. "I am coming with you, whether you like it or not! I could get lost here or in the forest! Anyway, I want to make sure that my guide doesn't get hurt."

The warrior from before had just noticed that Tonic was not following and was being yelled at by the girl that had been with. She walked back towards Tonic, yelling words at him that made Mousse flinch, even though she didn't understand them. Then to Mousse's surprise, Tonic answered back in the same language, shouting back angrily at the woman. The warrior stopped walking and turned around, waiting for something to happen. Tonic then turned back to the shocked Mousse.

"I guess you're coming with me then. She isn't really happy about it as you can tell."

"What was it that you told her? Is that your native language?"

"Yes, its my native tongue, its called Mandarin. I just told her to wait another minute as you wanted to also meet the council."

"I do?"

"Well, you want to go with me, right?"

"Yeah, but to meet the elder council..."

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. Just let me do the talking, okay?"

"Sure...I guess..." Mousse replied, hoping that she wasn't taking a stupid chance just so that she could stay with Tonic. Tonic prodded her ahead and the two walked after the warrior before them.

* * *

"You know Ryoga, there are so many times that I'm thankful I have you." Ukyo said as she popped a piece of candy in her mouth. The two were now sitting inside a huge circus tent in the middle of an enormous crowd as acrobats did their act on the high wires.

"Oh, like you're not happy to have me around all the time? Just some of the time?" Ryoga sputtered out, still taking in Ukyo's joke as gullibly as he would have done seventeen years ago. Ukyo rolled her eyes at him and leaned over, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. 

"You still haven't grown out of that, I see. I just meant that I was happy that you happened to get these tickets for us free of charge."

"Oh, I...um...sorry..." Ryoga mumbled as realization flowed through him.

"Oh, look! They're starting another act over there! Lets get a better seat!" Ukyo exclaimed as she saw some of the circus attendees staring to put up a stage inside a ring. 

"But Ukyo-" Ryoga tried to complain, but was quickly whisked out of his seat and down the stairs towards the front of the crowd as Ukyo pulled on his arm. She quickly sighted a pair of seats that had just been unoccupied, but she also saw that someone else noticed the open seats and were heading towards them. She swiftly reached into her pack, while still running and holding onto Ryoga, and pulled out two of her small spatulas that had come in handy so many years ago. She threw them down towards the seats with a flick of her wrists and they flew with incredible speed. 

The two other people had just arrived by the seats when two very sharp small spatulas flew in front of them and imbedded themselves into the backs of the chairs. They took one look at the chairs and then up at the hastily speeding woman coming towards them before turning tail and running off. Ukyo smiled to herself as she saw their reaction and quickly pushed her way towards her occupied seats.

Yanking out the spatulas and putting them back in her bag, she smiled to the people sitting in the seats beside them before sitting down herself. While sitting next to her, Ryoga shook his head in embarrassment and spoke in a whisper. "What was the reason for that? You really didn't have to do that."

"Mood swings, hon, blame the mood swings." Ukyo replied and began to chew on another candy piece. Ryoga rolled his eyes, not believing her one bit, but sat back and decided to make the most of it for the moment. He knew they were supposed to be looking for Mousse, but at a circus this size, it would have been crazy to try and search all the stalls. Ukyo had suggested that they watch the show first to see if he was there and then start to search the grounds. 

There was a sudden drum roll crescendo, growing louder by the second until it was cut off by a booming voice through a microphone.

"Welcome Everyone! Thank you for spending time at our Big Top Circus!" It said and a figure was lit up with lights in the middle of the circus ring, giving the voice a body. The man was short and squat, but was dressed well for the part of the ringleader. "We will now be introducing our next act, one that all of you will find fascinating and mystical. But first before anything starts, we need a volunteer from the audience. Come now, we need a brave young man or woman to help out in our act! Who will it be?" He gestured his arms around, trying to coax someone out of the crowd.

"Ryoga! You volunteer!" Ukyo said excitedly as she was getting into the stir of the moment. Ryoga turned to her, not believing what he just heard. Though he did not have time to protest as Ukyo quickly picked him up and booted him into the ring.

The ringleader looked over at the man who had just landed on his feet beside him and then grabbed his arm and raised it up. "We have a volunteer!" There was a roar from the crowd in applause. "Now we can get this show started! Strap the volunteer down."

"S-S-Strap the what?" Ryoga sputtered out, as two men grabbed his arms and pulled him back towards a table. It took them only a few moments to firmly secure Ryoga in place and then left the area. Ryoga realized that the table he was on was one that was like on many game shows that spun around in circles. He wasn't going to like this.

"Now Ladies and Gentlemen!" the man raved into his mike. "We introduce our next act! This man spent his life practicing spectacular skills of martial arts and he is now here to show them to you! He needs no equipment as he carries them with him at all time! Feast your eyes and don't blink or else you may not believe what you are seeing. Here he is, the Mysterious Human Arsenal!"

There was a burst of smoke at one end at the ring and all eyes turned towards the plume of smoke, yet as they all waited for someone to emerge nothing happened. The smoke faded into nothing and everything looked the same as before. There were murmurs between the crowd questioning the act. Suddenly all the lights went out in the circus tent, leaving only sunlight pouring in from certain openings. Ryoga laid there, tied down and very uneasy with his situation. Then his senses kicked in as he felt six objects flying towards him. All of them landed in spots on the table far enough away from his body, but he let out a shriek of surprise as one more object landed a mere inch from his head. A spotlight came on and began to circle the floor until it stopped on top of Ryoga on the table. Seven sickle knives were imbedded in the table around him and he looked very angry that he had to be in that position. Another spot light lit up and presented a dark clothed figure standing on the opposite side of the ring to Ryoga. The crowd burst into cheers of applause and the lights flickered back on.

The show began and the man began to attack targets placed around him. He was clothed all in black and he even wore a hood over his head to hide his face. He moved deftly and it seemed as if he was doing more than jumping and flipping around the ring. The thing was that no one ever saw him pick up a weapon. It seemed as if they all came out of his sleeves and nothing else. Ryoga, during that time, had decided that he had enough of this and wanted out of his bonds. He was just about to break out of them, forget what the people around him thought, he wanted out! It was then that the masked man turned back to face him from across the ring and nodded his head. 

"Now, our Mysterious Man will help let our volunteer get out of his restraints by destroying them with a special attack while the table spins in circles!"

Pairs of hands gripped the table Ryoga was on, tipped it at an angle, and then began to spin it wildly. Ryoga began to see red, angry that he being made a fool of, and green, since his gut had other ideas to worry about.

The masked man jumped up and shot his arms forward. Chains flew out of both sleeves and made for the spinning table. Ukyo nearly jumped in her seat when she realized who she had been watching. Those chains... no one else could handle chains like that except for one person. She smacked herself on the forehead, realizing how stupid she had been and quickly ran out of the tent.

The chains seemed to hardly touch the spinning table, but there were sounds that they had made some kind of contact on the table. The man quickly retracted the chains and stood in the middle of the ring with his arms crossed. The people whom had been spinning Ryoga's table began to slow it down and then stopped it with him in an upright position. Ryoga hung there and wondered if something had gone wrong in the act. Then there were five loud snapping noises and Ryoga dropped to the floor on his feet.

He stared at himself, amazed for the moment that he was free of his bonds. Then the short little ringleader suddenly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him toward the middle of the ring and the man in black. 

He yelled into his microphone, "Lets have a hand for our volunteer! He did a great job, didn't he?!" The crowd answered back in cheers. 

Ryoga felt his face burn with embarrassment at how he was being shown off to a couple hundred people like he was an actual part of the act.

"Now, we introduce our masked man. He's been with our circus for fourteen years and we hope he'll stay for another fourteen years. I present to you, Mu Tsu!"

The man in black stepped forward, pulling off his hood and bowed down to the applauding crowd. Ryoga, double blinked, then triple blinked, making sure he was actually seeing this before him. There was Mousse, older in age of course, but it was beyond a doubt Mousse! There were no glasses, yet his hair the same color and length and his skin had tanned to a tinted brown.

Ryoga stepped back in amazement and watched as Mousse bowed to the crowd. He then realized that Mousse hadn't even recognized him. Maybe it was the fact that he no longer wore a headband that was his trademark symbol from years ago, but it was weird that he wouldn't recognize a person that you saw nearly everyday for over a span of four years.

Mousse stepped back beside the ringleader, grinning as any entertainer would be after so much praise from his crowd. He turned along with the ringleader and walked out of the circus ring, with the other man in tow behind them. He then noticed that the man was staring at him oddly as he followed behind them, it was like he saw a demon or something. Mousse stopped and turned to the man, addressing him, "Excuse me, is there something wrong with me or anything? You're looking like you've seen a ghost and I'm it."

"Mousse, you don't remember me?"

"Remember you? Why should I?" Mousse shook his head. "Never have I even met you before this day."

"What are you talking about? We knew each other for at least four years before you vanished from Japan sixteen years ago! Remember Nerima, where we all lived at? I'm Ryoga, the guy who was always getting lost!"

Mousse stared at Ryoga for a moment, pondering his words. "Ryoga? Nerima? I don't know what you're talking about! I've never even been to Japan except with the circus and I've never even been to this 'Nerima' or whatever you call it."

"What are you saying!? You traveled all the way to Japan from your village in China just to follow Shampoo. You lived there with all of us in Nerima for four years at least!"

"Shampoo? Who is this person you speak of?"

"You don't even remember Shampoo!?" Ryoga stepped closer to Mousse, trying to understand the situation. "Kami, what happened to you Mousse?"

Mousse stepped back, away from Ryoga feeling a bit annoyed that this man was trying to make a fool out of him. "Excuse me, Ryoga, I do not have to explain my life to you. Whether you think that you know me or not, the truth is that I don't know you!" He pulled a out a pair of knives from his sleeves and pointed them at Ryoga. "Now kindly remove yourself from the premises or else I will have to help you out myself!"

Ryoga looked at Mousse as he stood defensively before him. He cracked his knuckles and took a fighting stance. "It's been a while since I've had a real fight, but even if I have to beat the truth into you, I will make you remember!"

Mousse grinned evilly at Ryoga, "Fine with me. Just try to attack!"

The two sprang towards each other, ready to fight to the end. It was then that someone yelled out, "HOLD IT!! STOP RIGHT THERE!" Before either of them could look to see who had yelled at them, there was a huge spray of water above them, drenching them completely and which changed them into their cursed forms. Ryoga-pig turned to see Ukyo standing before them, holding a water hose and looking very upset. She stalked over to Ryoga, picked him up by the scruff and started to yell into his face, "I DON'T WANT YOU GUYS FIGHTING! If Mousse can't remember, then it's up to us to figure out why, not beat it out of him!"

Ryoga bweed regretfully as if he now realized the point to which their actions could have made. Mousse-duck at the time was staring daggers at the woman before him. How could she have known about his curse?! He had told no one and not even one person at the circus even knew about it! And how did this man, Ryoga, have a curse as well? Just what was going on?

Ukyo sighed at the 'man' before her and turned to Mousse. "Well Mousse, you really don't remember Nerima at all?" 

He shook his head no and squawked loudly.

"Well then there's only one thing left to do." Ukyo put down her pack that she had been lugging on her back and began rummaging through it. Finding an item she turned to Mousse and quickly grabbed him by the neck. "Ranma said we had to bring you back to Nerima, so it's best to do it this way. Sorry Mousse, but there are larger things at stake for the moment than your popularity in a three ring circus." 

She pulled out an empty bag from her pack and shoved Mousse-duck inside. She tied off the sack, making sure that he wouldn't try any of his tricks to get out of it and gathered up his clothes. Stuffing them into her pack, she also pulled out a small filled hot water bottle and dutifully poured it over Ryoga, changing him back to human form. 

Mousse-duck tried relentlessly to cut his way out of the bag he was held captive in, but it seemed that the bag was resistant to the cutting blade of his knives and he could think of nothing else to get out. He squawked and screeched as best a duck could do, trying to get the attention of someone to open the bag, but it was to no avail as he felt the bag being picked up and carried away. Great, now he was at the mercy of these lunatic people who thought that he was someone else from their area, AND in his cursed form. Could this get any worse?

As Ukyo and Ryoga walked out of the passageway they had been in, carrying a bag with Mousse-duck inside as a captive, Ukyo wondered at what could have made Mousse forget his whole past with them in Japan and more importantly Shampoo! He'd known her since they were children and had loved her with a passionate heart, just how could he do that!? 

Looking at Ryoga, she paused before speaking, "I think that we'd better find Mousse's trailer or whatever and search through it. If we're gonna be taking him back to Nerima like this, we'd better be bringing some clothes for him to have later on. Maybe find out a clue as to how Mousse forgot...everything."

"Your idea is as good as mine. But do you really think that its best to bring him there in his duck form? I mean, he's gonna really hate us after we get back to Nerima. Who knows what he'll do."

"We'll just wait for Ranma to get back then before letting him change back. Ranma has something in mind for the three of them and I think it's going to be worse now with the predicament Mousse has here."

Ryoga nodded in agreement and then looked around them as they headed into the backgrounds crowd. "Fine then, so lets find his trailer...Where do you think it is?"

* * *

Well, there's another chapter to my reading public.

I am very happy to see that people read my fics and actually LIKE them. Sorry about these long times between adding chapters, but my classes and work at college takes up time, especially since my nights are spent doing my work for all my art classes. Please review when you can!!

Next chapter:

Ukyo and Ryoga arrive home with Mousse. The elder council talks with Tonic and push for a decision. Shampoo is confronted by her past.

Thanks for reading though and hopefully I will finish both of my fics soon.

^_^ (\/) cyancat


	8. Guilt Can Overcome

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) Cyancat ****

Forgotten Memories

Chapter Seven - Guilt Can Overcome

Tonic and Mousse were ushered into a semi-dark room where many older women sat around tables and a fire hearth. When they noticed that Tonic and Mousse had entered, they all sat down at a rounded table that was at the head of the room.

"It is good to see that you've arrived home early Tonic. Did you learn all that you wanted while on your trip?" An older woman questioned with a ragged voice as she sat down on a chair.

Tonic bowed before them and eyed the group of women. "Yes, High Elders, I have returned home with a great deal to tell you."

***

Mousse during this time was feeling very nervous and out of place. Everyone here was speaking a language that she couldn't understand and every once and a while one of the women kept staring at her oddly. She really didn't like being here and was starting to regret going along with Tonic with every second that passed by. Then one of the women that had been talking to Tonic pointed at her and said a few words that did not sound very good. She quickly stood as straight as best she could and noticed Tonic look back at her with an expression that she couldn't read.

**** 

"And just who is this girl with you here?" an elder said while pointing at Mousse. "She is not from this village!"

Tonic looked at Mousse before turning back to the elders. "I came back to the village accompanied by this girl and three other people. The reason I am here is that I wanted to ask if you could wait on any decision you might have made for me. There is a matter that needs to be presented to you before any conclusions are made."

"You are asking us to wait with the decision for your arranged marriage?" the older woman said as she seemed to be stunned that he would even think that it was possible to do.

"Yes, High Elder. I know that is what I promised to you before I left on my travels and I intend to keep my honor of a promise, but there is something now that changes a lot for me. I just ask that you would give me a formal meeting tomorrow and all will be revealed to you."

"You with hold information from us willingly?" another elder commented, pausing for a moment, "You really have changed Tonic."

The group of women then began to whisper among themselves. Tonic stepped back beside the nervous Mousse and smiled at her.

"Don't worry, they didn't mind you being here."

"Really? They really seemed mad to see me here. That one in the corner was practically screaming at you. Then she pointed at me and started yelling some more! I thought I was gonna faint, I've never been so nervous in all my life!"

"They have that impact, I'm just sorry that you had to encounter them now instead of on better terms than this."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...-" Tonic started to speak but was cut off by the sound of an old woman intentionally coughing to call attention to her. He was quickly silent and stared at the woman who stood up from the table.

"Young Tonic, we will grant you your request of an audience with us, but you are to give us now a full report of your travels. You and your company shall meet with us at the next sunset. Whatever you have to say tomorrow, you can keep to yourself, but we have been waiting a long time to see just how much you have learned. All we want is to know of your travels abroad. You still have that book we gave you for authenticate signatures?" The woman smiled as Tonic shook his head yes, "Good, then we shall no longer waste time. But first, ask the girl to leave the room, we don't need her here in the room."

"But High Elder-" Tonic spoke up, but silenced himself when he saw the look in the elder's eyes.

******************************************************

Mousse stared angrily at the door before her as it closed shut, leaving her outside the building that housed the elders. She couldn't understand these people anymore than anyone else. She figured that since she was one of them, she could at least understand them a little bit, but that was just about as good as understanding the language. She didn't get it, if they were just gonna have Tonic talk to them, why did she have to leave? It's not like she was gonna interpret what they were saying.

Mousse sat down on a bench near the doors and started to try and wait, as Tonic had asked her to do, "Just wait outside for me Mousse, you don't know the way home and you'll probably get lost if you try. Just wait for me, okay?" Mousse sighed and hung her head. He was right, she would more likely get lost trying to find her way back, but why did he have to be so blunt about it? It was then that she heard someone shout loudly her way and snapped her head up to what it was for. There running before her was a young boy, a grin on his face as if he thought he could get away from the older woman chasing from behind. He carried in his hands about five small melons and was having a hard enough time juggling them in his hands while running. She smiled at the sight, laughing to herself at the young boy and decided that she was gonna help stop him. Just as the boy ran past her, she stuck out her foot, tripping him and sending him towards the ground. The boy cried out in shock as he felt himself trip. He forgot about the melons in his hands and brought them up to cover his face waiting for the blow to the ground. Seconds passed and nothing happened. He opened his eyes and lowered his arms to realize that a girl was holding him up by the scruff of his shirt. He saw his melons scattered below him and lurched to grab them, but was held tight by Mousse's grip. He turned to glare angrily at her and was just about to try a kick to her leg, but he then heard a shrill and angry voice from behind which made him shirk at the sound.

Mousse smiled the whole time. This was just as fun as it was back at the orphanage. Many a time she was the one to deal with the young ones who thought that everything belonged to them. It was a practiced move she had done so many times before on the other children. It was just a trip of the feet and then a quick grab to the neckline, grabbing the shirt and holding them up from the ground. This usually left them stunned and amazed at the same time. Mousse saw that the woman was getting closer to them so she pulled up the boy and turned him around to face the advancing woman, yet still not letting go of his shirt, lest he try to run again.

The woman smiled appreciatively at Mousse as she walked up the last few steps towards them then turned angrily at the young boy. She yelled at him and pointed at the melons on the ground. He stooped to pick them up and delicately gave them to her. She shook her head at the boy before turning back to Mousse. She started to, as Mousse thought, explain what had happened with the boy, as it was kind of fun guessing what she was saying. Mousse just kept nodding in an agreeing mood and would frown at the boy at times when the woman seemed to be indicating him and his snitching of the melons. When the woman paused and looked to her expectantly, Mousse realized that she was waiting for an answer back. Thinking quickly, she touched her throat and shook her head, trying to indicate that she couldn't talk. It was better than trying to say that she didn't understand her language.

It seemed as if the woman understood, as she held out a melon to Mousse. Hesitantly taking the melon, Mousse was surprised at her casualness. The woman bowed to her before turning and grabbed the boy by the ear, pulling him down the path. Mousse watched them leave, amazed at what had happened between them. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be a part of this village after all. She realized then that the market place she had walked through with Tonic was ahead of her and decided to explore a bit more of the village while she had the chance.

**************************************************************************

There was a soft knock to the door of the room in which Shampoo had kept herself in for several hours. It snapped Shampoo out of the haze she had been drowning in.

"Teacher? Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine Po Mai. Just fetch me the list of goods we need and the large reed basket. I'll be going to the marketplace soon."

"Okay. I'll do that." was the timid reply and the girl softly padded away.

Hearing her leave, Shampoo sighed heavily, she had lost track of how long she'd even been sitting there. After her so called talk with Ranma, she couldn't help but let the rest of her memories come flooding back to her eyes. She had seen them all as clear as if they had happened right at that moment. She remembered her first days in Japan, chasing down Ranma, her exploits to marry him, and the Cat Café they had worked so hard for. Then there were those visions of Mousse, always next to her, even though he was pointed towards the mailbox or pole or bush next to her. Though still, he had always been right there, fighting for her. She had known since they were children that he was special, even if she couldn't figure out that special thing until that night. Yes, that night, the only time that she had actually given into her emotions and forgot about everything else. She had loved him for so long, that it had been hard for her to say it. To tell him that she loved him, for some reason it was too hard to tell him. She had hoped to find him next to her that next morning and tell him as he woke. But that had been tossed away as soon as she found that note, that piece of paper that was the only thing that she had left to remind herself of that boy.

Shampoo felt tears start to well up again behind her eyes and she shook her head, trying to shake away those feelings. There was no longer any time for that, she couldn't cry about it anymore. She was an adult, not a seventeen year old girl. She couldn't be acting like a child just because of some old memories. Shampoo stood up and rubbed her eyes, knowing that they were probably red with her emotions. Opening the door, she nearly crashed into Po Mai who had just turned towards the door. Po Mai stumbled back a few paces, but caught herself and looked up at Shampoo holding out a basket and piece of paper.

"Here are the things you requested, Teacher."

Shampoo smiled down at the girl for a moment before accepting the items she held out. "Thank you Po Mai. You may go home now. There is nothing else for you to do today."

Po Mai could only shake her head in agreement as she had been anxious to ask her teacher a question about the visitor, but as she saw her masters face just now, she knew it wasn't right to ask about it. She simply turned around and walked down the hallway with Shampoo watching from behind.

"Odd...," Shampoo thought to herself as she walked out of the training house, "She usually complains whenever I send her home. I can hardly ever get rid of her willingly. I wonder why?" 

Walking into the market place, she idly stared at the stalls of wares and would glace at her list every so often. Walking along the rows, she had begun thinking again on Ranma's words. He had come because of Mousse, the baby girl she had left behind so long ago. It was a shock to learn that they had even learned about her, but then she wondered, didn't she really want it to happen? Hadn't she secretly wished that her daughter would find her one day? She walked to the end of the lane and leaned up against a tree. Sliding down to the ground, she closed her eyes, wondering what Mousse would look like now and tried to picture her in her mind. 

Everything that she came up with didn't seem to fit the image of her daughter. Sighing she opened her eyes and looked around at the crowd milling around. She smiled laughingly as she saw Ta Li pulling her son, Ta Ku, down the street by his ear and yelling punishments at him every so often. He had been up to his old tricks again, probably snitching a treat from the fruit vendor. He was a good student and she knew that if he could get out of this stealing stage, he could be a better warrior. 

It was then that she saw a young girl walking down towards the market. She had waist length black hair and she wore a dark green-teal short dress. The girl looked mystified with her surroundings as if she had never been there before. Shampoo thought that it was odd that she had never even seen this girl before. Then her eyes widened in realization. Could this be...could this be her own daughter? Ranma was here about Mousse and what would stop him from bringing her along? Nothing, if he thought that it was the right thing to do. Shampoo stared at the girl as she came closer along the path, trying to see if what she thought was true. 

As she walked past Shampoo amid the crowd, Shampoo gasped as she saw that it was true, it was her daughter Mousse! That face, it was nearly a exact copy of her fathers and it went along with the assumptions that a daughter always looked more like their fathers and sons like their mothers. Shampoo recalled the first and last time she had seen her daughter way back in Japan. Even with the expanse of over fifteen years, Shampoo could still see the child that she had held in her arms. Her warrior mind told her to run, get away from here before Mousse saw her, but Shampoo couldn't tear her eyes away from her. She was more than she'd imagined and was becoming a very pretty young girl, just as she had been when she herself was so young. 

Mousse strolled around the market, still looking fascinated by her surroundings. Shampoo couldn't help but smile at her daughter's enchantment of the village.

"Mousse!" yelled a voice from the crowd. Mousse stopped dead in her tracks and turned towards the voice, a wide smile apparent on her lips. Shampoo turned to see a boy running towards her. He reached where Mousse had stopped and looked down at her. "Mousse, I told you not to leave."

Shampoo studied the boy as he and Mousse talked. She had seen him before, yet his name wouldn't come to her. He was only half a foot taller than Mousse and his hair was a disheveled as a travelers would be. He smiled down at Mousse as she talked to him and Shampoo instantly knew who it was. Tonic, that young boy who had left over a year ago for a training trip. No wonder she hadn't noticed who he was. He had grown and changed a lot since she had seen him last. The one thing that hadn't changed was that smile of his. 

It had been a feature that everyone would notice when he was younger, as he always smiled as he fought, whether in training or tourneys. His smile signaled him out as a different kind of warrior and she had seen that in him even as a seven year old boy. But the thing that now confused her was, how could they know each other? 

The two turned around and started to walk out of the crowd towards the village homes. Shampoo felt that she had to follow them and figure out what was going on. Even though she completely denied Mousse's existence to Ranma, she could at least learn enough about this girl to sate her heart...for a while at least. Maybe she could even let herself give in to show herself to Mousse, but Shampoo wondered if she would be able to take it if she learned that her own daughter hated her.

**********************

Hey People, 

Sorry about the REALLY long chapter interval for this one. I just seemed to slack at the story as I got into drawing pictures of both of the Mousse's, Shampoo and Tonic. As I had just recently got a few Ranma manga's, I was eager to try and draw them in the way that I saw them. I have a few done and I will put them up on 'media miner dot org' along with the story there too, so all can read and see it. Thanks again for hanging on and reading!!

^_^ (\/) cyancat


	9. Rain On My Face

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) Cyancat ****

Forgotten Memories

Chapter Eight - Rain On My Face

Shampoo stealthily moved behind houses and buildings that bordered the path Mousse and Tonic were taking. She had no desire to be seen at this moment and it was, she thought to herself, a bit of good practice. It had been quite a while since she had last stalked among the shadows with the stealth of a cat. The last time she had really done something like this was back in Japan... She shook her head to toss away those thoughts, this was no time to reminisce. There was a reason she was stalking in the shadows and it was moving quickly down the road.

Shampoo nimbly followed the two as they chatted down the way. The wind shifted towards her and Shampoo noticed that she could hear them talking.

****

"So..what did the elders tell you?" Mousse asked as she chewed on the melon she had received from before.

"That they aren't happy about what I'm keeping from them...I'm dishonorable to the tribe...I had better have a good reason for putting off the arranged wedding.... They said a lot to me that I really don't care to repeat." Tonic said with a sullen tone in his voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to feel bad about it."

"Hey, it was going to happen sometime anyway...I just hope that they'll let me be an apprentice to Ranma or else I'm gonna get thrown into a wedding."

***

Shampoo's ears perked at his words. He had already met with the elder council? They couldn't be that eager to marry off the boy, could they? Shampoo made a mental note to talk to her grandmother as soon as she was done following Mousse. As one of the higher elders, Cologne had to have some say in what was going on and could tell her a few details at least, that is, if they really wanted her to become an elder someday. She watched Mousse as she stared down at the melon pit in her hand for a moment, before winding up and pitching it into the forest beyond them. To Shampoo it seemed that she wanted to throw something else into the forest as she threw it with a bit too much effort. 

***

The two walked in silence for another few minutes, both with a determined look on their face. Finally Mousse, couldn't stand it anymore and let loose the question that she'd been burning to ask.

"Tonic, don't you want to get married? I mean, are you sure that you should turn this down just because of an apprenticeship with some guy that you've only known for like.., a week at most! This is a chance that you may never have again. You don't know if you'll ever find someone worth marrying in the future, so why not go along with your culture?"

Tonic stopped in his tracks and stood there, staring at the ground. 

***

Tonic seemed to be struggling for an answer, Shampoo thought as she spied on the two. He had really changed since he had left last year, since it used to be that he had a quick answer to any question and now it took him minutes to come up with an answer for nearly any of Mousse's questions. 

Shampoo suddenly gasped and clasped a hand over her mouth as she felt a wave of deja vu and realization flow over her. He couldn't..., he wouldn't...,Tonic wasn't going to..., would he? He hadn't known her long enough to do that and she... Mousse...might she feel the same way about Tonic? At fifteen years old, could she decide how to react?

Shampoo knew what was going to happen as she had seen someone act like this before, though this time the boy wasn't four years old and blind as a bat. Shampoo could only watch in a nervous strain as Tonic still wouldn't move from his position with Mousse waiting for an answer, her face showing the many emotions she was going though during the empty silence. 

***

Slowly Tonic turned towards Mousse, after what had been an eternity of quiet from the boy and lifted his head up. He took a breath and approached Mousse, gripping her hands as he stood in front of her.

"Mousse, it used to be that I never wanted to marry anyone in my life. I didn't even have crushes on any of the girls here when we were children. I've never wanted to marry Po Mai, what ever the elders say--"

"So that's her name?" Mousse interrupted looking down at her hands covered by Tonic's, as hearing the actual name of the girl sent shivers of resentment down her spine. "Po Mai? She even sounds pretty, you know."

"Mousse," Tonic said through clenched teeth and squeezed her hands, pulling the attention back up to his face. "It doesn't matter what her name is or what she looks like, I don't want to marry her or any girl here from this village! I used to say that I never wanted to marry, but I've changed and so has my mind. I've met a girl and it's her I want to marry."

Mousse's expression changed quickly from surprise to agitation and she stepped back, trying to loosen Tonic's grip on her hands. "So who is this girl you want to marry? Huh? Some person you met on your travels? Just where did you meet her?"

***

Shampoo nearly fell over in shock, hearing Mousse words as she became agitated at Tonic's confession. Could she really be this dense? He was nearly saying it right there, but she wasn't putting the pieces together. How couldn't she figure it out? Then Shampoo quickly realized that Mousse had probably never had a relationship like this before, being only fifteen. There was also the inkling that Mousse carried a few qualities of her parent's demeanor when they used to be that age, if for the fact that they weren't the best ones.

***

Tonic had to laugh a little at Mousse's agitation, but kept his grip on her hands and forcibly pulled her towards him until she was leaning up against his chest. She looked up at him confused and met his deep blue eyes, knowing that she just melted every time he looked at her.

"Mousse, there's only one girl that I've met on my trip that I was even interested in. Ever since I held her hands, I knew that she was special to me somehow. Now that I've spent time with her, traveling by boat and hiking across the land, through the forests, I've realized that I...I love her."

Mousse blinked a few times in utter disbelief. Everything was finally coming together in her brain, the pieces fitting together like a puzzle, but, she realized in a panic, that meant that he was talking about...! Mousse fumbled for her brain to work, so that she could say something to him! "But, but that would mean that...that you were..., you're talking about...about me?!"

"I was, Mousse. I've been trying to figure out my feelings for you ever since we started hiking through the forests. There was something that dug at me every time I looked at you. When you spoke about the stars that one night, my heart fell even deeper for you. Mousse, I love you. And I know that it may seem like a big jump in the short time that we've known each other, but I want to know if you feel the same way about me. Even if it may hurt me, just say it, because I want to know. I realize there's nothing I can do to change your mind in this, but I want to give you this..." Tonic paused, his eyes still locked with Mousse's in a deep stare.

He released her hands and placed his on the sides of her face. Slowly he lifted her startled face and leaned down towards her, their lips meeting in a overpowering kiss. Mousse's eyes popped wide with shock as Tonic pressed his lips against hers, but her own feelings took over, drowning herself in the wonderful sensation that she felt. Knowing that this wasn't a dream like the ones she had before, but the real Tonic holding her and kissing her so deeply, Mousse could only slowly close her eyes and wrap her arms around Tonic's neck.

***

Shampoo took off at a blind run, away from the scene, away from what was happening before her own eyes. She couldn't stand to be there another moment, feeling more a voyeur every second that passed by. It was just too much for her as it reminded her of a past from long ago that she had been made to forget. Shampoo realized that she could no longer follow Tonic and Mousse and figured out in her mind that they were probably staying at Tonic's home. She knew where he lived and in so, could sneak by at any time, just that this time seemed to be the worst time for her.

Thunder crashed in the sky above and Shampoo slid to a stop, staring up at the sky, dark clouds quickly moving in from the west. 

"Dammit! I forgot all about the monsoon season coming!" Shampoo growled with contempt. Looking up once more she took off again at a run, trying her best to head off the weather. "I can't stand this season because you never know when its going to-"

Thunder cracked above her and a drench of rain instantly fell upon the village.

"Meoow!" 

Shampoo could only groan as best a cat could do. 'Great...just great. This is all I need.' she thought as she sat in the rain, her fur drenched thoroughly, 'Turned into a cat in the middle of the village just because of a stupid rainstorm! How could I be so stupid?!'

Shampoo slowly stood up and walked down the road, feeling more depressed with every step she took. Shampoo walked along, not really caring where she went, figuring that she deserved this, after doing what she did to her daughter Mousse, getting drenched in the rain was at least some kind of punishment on her part.

As she walked, her head began to feel dizzy and light, as if something was trying to make her fall asleep right there in step. She realized that she must have spent too much time in the rain, but was not able to think any further on the subject as she suddenly collided with a thick furry post. Shaking her head, more trying to rid her head of the cobwebs that were building to cloud her mind, Shampoo looked up at the object she had collided with. She stared for a few moments through slitted eyelids before succumbing to the darkness that took over her head. The last thing that she thought to herself before falling limply to the ground was that 'What is a panda doing here?'

*****************

"I'm not worthy to be called an Amazon! I wasn't even there for my mother as she lay dying on her death bed. How could I call myself a good son to her or even one of the Amazon if I dishonored like this?" Mousse said, holding his head in his hands, fighting back more tears that were forming in his eyes. 

Shampoo sat beside him, contemplating the boy sitting on her bed. What was it about him that made her heart pound as she saw his pain so evident in his words? He wasn't acting like the Mousse she had grown to know and it was like he was showing to her parts of him that he had hidden away for years. Why was it now that he had come to tell her of his mother's death, when she had been herself contemplating her life here in Nerima?

"Mousse, you could never dishonor your mother." Shampoo slowly placed a hand on the boy's back, trying somehow to comfort him. "You've been nothing but a great son to her. She told me this many times during the past years and I don't doubt that she knew that you would always bring honor to her."

"How can you say that? You hardly even knew my mother and yet you speak for her as if you were her. She was the only person left that even cared one bit for me!" Mousse turned to stare angrily at Shampoo and met her soft, violet eyes. He couldn't bear to look at her while feeling this way and stammered an apology. "I...I'm sorry that I bothered you Shampoo. I'll leave you alone now." 

Mousse tried to quickly get off her bed and out of the room, attempting to hide his face as more tears were forcing their way out. He was then stopped by a hand on his arm as he stood up and turned to see Shampoo gripping his arm tightly. 

"You're...you're not bothering me." Shampoo stuttered, her cheeks blushing bright red. Releasing his arm she looked up to see confusion written all over his face. "I truly am sorry about your mother's death, but if you want to talk more about it, you can stay. I talked all night with my father when my mother died and it helped. Are you sure you want to go?"

___________**____________**________________

Shampoo shook her head as she came out of her dreamy sleep. 'Gods, it's still so clear in my memory that it pains me every time I see his hurt face.' she thought as she shook the sleep from her head. 

Though now a nasty headache was taking the place of her sleep filled mind and it was becoming overpowering. Stretching out her body, Shampoo froze in place and quickly realized that she was still in her cat form! Looking around, she realized that she wasn't at her home, so grandmother hadn't found her, but then who did? She had been placed in a basket next to a fireplace with a fire blazing and a blanket covering her. Where ever she was, at least these people knew how to treat a sick person, ah cat, and decided to see which member of the village had taken her in. Walking towards a pair of doors opened with a slight crack, she heard voices arguing. She stopped in mid-step as she recognized a voice and then two, her eyes opening wide with fear and shock. 

Rushing to the door, she confirmed her fears as she saw the people she had recognized, argue right before her. Ranma and Akane were both shouting at each other and towards Ranma's father in his panda form, who kept holding up signs at them. Shampoo's memory suddenly flashed as she remembered the last thing she saw that night before she passed out, a panda. Gods, it had been Genma she had bumped into! Why was this happening to her now?! Just when she thought she had begun to forget about him, Ranma had to come along and dredge everything up again and then bring her daughter along too. Now to be picked up at her lowest state and to be found by Genma, they had to think she was the worst person in the world. 

Turning to leave the house, her ears pricked up as she noticed that the fight had come to a stop and they were now moving towards the door and her! She dashed to the basket she had woken in and clamped her eyes shut, feigning sleep.

"So why do you think that this cat you brought home is Shampoo?" She heard Akane say as she walked through the doors. There was a silent pause and she guessed that Genma had answered with another sign. "Just because it's the same color as she was in her cat form doesn't mean that its her! I mean, Shampoo would never let herself be caught out in the rain like that!"

"You never know Akane! It could have just been bad luck." Shampoo heard Ranma say, though it was from a much further distance and in a meeker tone. Was he still scared silly at the sight of a cat? Maybe she could use this to quickly get out of the house before they found out that it was her and not just another cat. She tensed up her muscles, remembering where the front door was and guessed where Akane and Ranma could be standing as best she could from the sound of their voices. She was trying to figure out how she was going to get through the door when she heard the sound of it slowly opening. This was her chance! She bolted out of the basket and under the skirts of Akane who had been standing beside her. She swerved to pass by Ranma and laughed to herself as he jumped up and nearly made it through to the second story. Streaking towards the opening door, she could hardly tell who or what was there as the sun was shining directly behind them, blinding her, but she had to keep going. She was nearly through the door and outside when suddenly she felt herself being quickly grasped by the middle and picked up from the ground. She growled angrily at whomever had picked her up and was just about to start clawing her way out from the grip, when she was suddenly face to face with the person who she hadn't expected to see, her daughter.

********_______________________________********

"Ryoga, I swear that you're rubbing off on me!" Ukyo griped at the man beside her as they stood with luggage in hand in an airport that did not look familiar. "Just where did we end up?"

Ryoga looked around them, confused at the surroundings "Ukyo, I... I think we're in Tokyo."

"Really?" Ukyo exclaimed in surprise and looked around, realizing that Ryoga was right! "I don't believe it! Do you think we came here on accident? I mean we've never been able to go where we actually wanted to go on the first try. Ryoga, are you losing your touch?"

"I.. I..don't know! This never happened to me on purpose before. Maybe we'd just better get back to Ranma's before we end up somewhere else. We still have Mousse to deal with."

At the sound of his name, Mousse, still in his duck form and still inside the bag, started to squawk and holler, making such a racket that passerby had to cover their ears. Ukyo and Ryoga rolled their eyes in annoyance and quickly headed off down the road. 

"I thought that sleeping pill was supposed to work on him for six hours Ukyo!"

"How am I supposed to know how fast he can come out of a sleeping trance? He's a duck for Kami's sake! I'm not a vet. Anyway, we've gotta call Ranma and tell him about this. He can't bring Mousse and Shampoo back here and expect to see the same Mousse from years back."

"Yeah, good idea. I'll call him once we get to the-"

At Ryoga's sudden break in words, Ukyo looked behind her and could only hold back for a moment before she burst out laughing at the sight of the wet piglet beside her. He stared menacingly at the old woman across from him that had just thrown out her daily dish water. She squinted down at him before turning around and heading back into her home.

"Oh Ryoga, if it isn't getting lost that's your problem, getting splashed is!" She said after catching her breath, only to start laughing once again. Ryoga snorted angrily, more at his problem then at Ukyo's laughter. 

A few hours later, Ukyo and Ryoga stumbled upon the home of the Tendo dojo. Ryoga, still in his pig form, took off at a run for the bathroom, leaving Ukyo standing at the doorway with all of their bags.

"Hello? Soun? Anyone here? Ryoga and I are back!" Ukyo yelled into the empty hallway as she dropped all her bags, save for one.

She heard the stomping of running feet on the wood floors of the Tendo home and Ukyo smiled. Kneeling down, she anticipated to see their son Taka run round the corner towards her, but was mortified at the sight that did round the bend. It wasn't her son as she had hoped, but Soun with full flowing rivers of tears cascading down his face. Before she knew it Soun was hugging her way too hard and crying to her about what had happened while they were gone.

"Oh, Ukyo! You're a life saver! Its been so hard to look after these kids by myself! I'm so glad you're back!" Soun whined in his usual fashion.

"Soun, It couldn't have been that bad! It was just three kids. You had to take care of your three daughters so what was the difference?" Ukyo tried reason with the man while trying to get out of his grip. She heard laughing coming from the hall ahead of her and looked up to see Kasumi peeking around the corner.

Kasumi stifled a laugh and stepped forward, placing a hand on her father's shoulder. "I guess Shouji and Kisa are too much like Ranma for Soun to handle. Dad, let go of Ukyo. Remember her condition?"

Within a second was unlatched from Ukyo and standing in the hall, looking as if he hadn't even been crying and whining. "Yes, yes of course. I'll be leaving you girls alone now." And with that he was out the front door.

Ukyo stared at the front door for a moment, laughing inwardly at the old man before turning back to Kasumi. "Was it really that hard on him?"

"Well, I don't think so. He called me as soon as all of you left and begged me to come over and help take care of the kids. I think he's realizing that he's getting old and doesn't want to face the truth. But anyway how was your trip?"

"Surprisingly quick. I figured that Ranma and Akane would get back before we did. Have you heard from them recently?"

"No, they haven't called us. Should they?"

"No, its all right. I just wondered. We have to call him before he gets back."

"Whats wrong? Did something happen? Didn't you find Mousse?"

"Yeah we found him all right," Ukyo said as she lifted the bag higher so Kasumi would notice it. "Well, physically at least."

"You mean he's in there? Why didn't he come in his normal form?" Kasumi questioned, pointing to the bag.

"Because he doesn't remember us or even his past with Shampoo. We had to kidnap him just to make sure he came with us." Ryoga said rounding the bend, rubbing his hair with a towel.

"Oh my, thats horrible! How did this happen?"

Ukyo sighed. "We don't know, but hopefully we can figure out something now that we have him here. Maybe something around here will pop a picture back into his memory." 

*********************************************************

Well, what do you think? I don't really know about this chapter. I still feel that it doesn't sound right, but there's no other way for me to say this stuff. I guess until I get an epiphany and rewrite the chapter, we'll have to settle with this. 

Also, I would like to request that even though its only two pictures ( there will be more later on) could some of you maybe tell me what you think of the pictures that I did of Mousse and family? They're at media miner dot org, but I really want to see what people think of my work. So could you help me out? Thanks so much for your time. 

There will be another chapter put up sometime during the Christmas break I have from Dec 15-Jan 4, so look forward to the actual confrontation between nearly everyone!

Thanks!!!

^_^ (\/) cyancat


	10. The Real Battle Begins

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) Cyancat ****

Forgotten Memories

Chapter Nine - The Real Battle Begins

"Hey did anyone loose a cat?" Tonic questioned as he entered his home, Mousse in tow with the purple cat in her arms, hugging it tightly. 

Akane smiled at the two who still carried the bright smiles they had come back with last night before the rain had started. The two had gone out early that morning to get some supplies for their trip back to Japan. They were now laden with one more item, the cat Genma had brought back.

Mousse quickly ran up to Akane, her face beaming. "Akane! Can I keep it? It's the cutest thing in the world! Please tell me I can keep it!"

"Sure, if its okay with Genma. He's the one who found it." Akane turned toward Genma, a hand on Mousse's shoulder. "Is it okay with you, Genma?"

Genma stared at the two before raising a sign that said, "I'd have it no other way."

Mousse squealed with delight and spun around, hugging the cat closer to her. "This is so great! I've never had a pet before!" She ran over to Tonic and shoved the cat into his face, forcing him to look at it. "Look, even her fur is a shade of purple! That must be rare or something, don't ya think?"

"Yeah, it must be. I've never seen that color cat before, so you must be one lucky girl. What're you going to name her?" Tonic replied with a smile.

"A name? I hadn't even thought about that." She turned the cat around so that she could also stare at it in the face. After a few moments of contemplation, she spoke up again. "How about Mao? It's simple enough, don't you think?"

**********--------------------------------------************

Back at the Tendo house, all four adults sat around the table staring at the object in the center of it, a dark blue bag with a squawking bird inside it making all the racket that he could.

"Well, what do we do with him now Ukyo?" Kasumi questioned while staring at the bag. It rolled around in a circle a few times before pausing once again.

"Well, we did say that we would keep him in this form until Ranma got back, but thats seeming to be harder than we thought." Ukyo turned to her husband and noticed he was intently staring at the bag. "Ryoga, what do you think we should do about him?" 

Jolted from his thoughts, Ryoga looked once at Ukyo before turning his gaze back to the bag. "I think we have no choice but to talk to him and there's no other way than to let him be human. Kasumi can you heat up some water?" She nodded, stood, and headed to the kitchen. Ryoga also stood and grabbed the bag from the table. "Where are his clothes, Ukyo?"

"In my pack still, but what are you going to do?" 

"I'm just going to talk to him, thats all. Man to man. Can you bring the water to the dojo when it's done? After that come back to the house and don't even think about entering the dojo."

Ukyo rose up and pointed a finger at Ryoga. "I'll bring the water, but I am not going to have you beat up on him! He doesn't deserve-"

"He doesn't deserve what, Ukyo?!" Ryoga's fists clenched impulsively, "He left behind the person that he loved the most and now he has the guts to say that he doesn't remember her or even us! I'm sorry but we need some answers and I know Ranma would do the same thing if he were here now."

He looked over at Ukyo once before turning and heading out the doorway, but as usual he turned the opposite direction he wanted to go. They heard a crash and a groan. 

Soun rose from the table saying, "I'll take care of it. Don't worry yourself about him." And he was out the door and redirecting the disoriented man.

Ukyo slowly sat down and looked over at Kasumi as she entered with a boiling pot of water. "Do you think I'm being too soft on him? Ryoga's never talked to me like that. It's like I'm seeing a new side to him. I thought I knew him..."

"Dear, you shouldn't worry about that. Ryoga's only acting on his emotions. He's only acting as a caring friend would do. You do remember that Ryoga, Ranma, and Mousse did a lot together, whether it was fighting or trying to find their cure. Whatever it was, they formed a bond that was just between them. You understand?" Kasumi said with a caring arm across her shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess I do, but how is it that you understand them so much and I haven't yet?"

"Oh, well when you live with a man that is so apparent with his emotions that he still fogs up for a month after we're married and he practically blurts out everything on his mind, it's kinda hard not to understand him. As I got used to my husband, I understood Ranma and Ryoga a lot more. Well, you had better get this water to Ryoga in the dojo before it gets cold. Don't be concerned with what Ryoga has in mind. I'm sure he's doing it with Mousse's best interests at heart."

* * *

Ryoga nodded at Ukyo as she placed the kettle down in the tatami mats of the dojo and then watched her leave. Turning back toward Soun who was holding the bag that held Mousse, Ryoga told him to let him out. Soun carefully untied the neck of the bag and placed it on the floor. It sat quiet for only a moment before the duck came bursting through the opening and into the light of the dojo. Before he knew it, Ryoga had thrown his clothes at him and placed a kettle beside him.

"Change back to your usual self. We have some talking to do." Ryoga muttered and then turned his back to the very confused duck. There was a loud splash and some sputtering coughs that came from behind him. Turning he saw the Mousse he had last seen at the circus, but still he was the Mousse he had known years ago.

Mousse straightened his clothes and looked at Ryoga, an angry look on his face. "All right, first of all I want to know why you subject me to staying in a bag like that after you kidnap me, oh and before that change me into my cursed form, kami knows how you knew that, nor why you are cursed as well. Tell me why put me through such strife and maybe then I will show you some mercy."

"You would show me mercy? After what you put everyone through?" Ryoga said with a savage grin. "Oh no, my so-called friend, there is no way that I should show mercy to you! But if I even hurt you in anyway, I know that Ukyo and everyone else is going to hate me for a while. So, tell me Mousse, what happened to you that made you forget your past?"

"Forget my past? What are you talking about? I remember every year of my youth up til now. I haven't forgotten a thing! Why would you think that I would fail to remember something like that?"

"Because you left behind the woman you loved without a second look! Sixteen years ago, you left this place without a word, without any warning and you never showed up again!"

"I what? There is no possible way! Are you sure that you have the right person? There are many people that could look like me, you know?"

Ryoga scoffed. "Yeah, I thought you'd say that. But first look at this picture." He pulled out from his shirt an edge tattered picture and shoved it in Mousse's face. "Anyone look familiar to you?"

Mousse glared at Ryoga before turning his attention to the photo. It looked simple enough to him, just a few people standing in front of a house. In the group of people there was Ryoga, as he remembered the man's name to be, the woman he had been with before, and a number of other people he couldn't recognize. Uninterested he was just about to look back at Ryoga with a rejecting glare. It was then that he suddenly noticed something. There was someone in the picture that sparked his interest and it looked like himself, only a younger version, and with glasses.

"How...Where did you get that picture?"

"What's it bother to you? Notice something?"

"That..that person with the glasses, he looks like...he looks like me..." Mousse faded off in his words, trying to figure out what was before him in living color.

Ryoga rolled his eyes in irritation. "Thats because it is you! This picture was taken over seventeen years ago when we had settled our arguments. Doesn't this spark anything in that blank mind of yours?!"

"How would it? I think you have me confused with someone else, for that boy wears glasses and if you haven't noticed, I don't wear any!"

Ryoga pocketed the photo, shaking his head with a grin. "Doesn't matter, I know that you and him are the same person. Your name is Mousse, right?"

"Well..." he hesitated in answering.

"Isn't it?!"

"Yes, but-"

"But nothing!" Ryoga cut him off. "We knew a boy that looks exactly like you, fought like you, sounds like you, and has the same name as you. Thats too many clues against your single denial! You are in every way this person in the photo and there is nothing that says you aren't. You are not leaving this house until you remember everything you forgot!" Ryoga crossed his arms and stared defiantly at the man before him.

"Then you're in for a long wait!" Mousse yelled back and turned his back to him. He then came face to face with the other man that had been in the room with them who yet had not interrupted with his own comments. "Well, aren't you gonna yell at me too? Tell me I'm this person that I have no idea who it is and threaten me? Well old man?"

Soun just shook his head at him and looked at him. "I'm just an old man caught in the crossfire. It's not my position to say that. I'm just Soun Tendo, the owner of this home. If you can't believe what Ryoga says then you don't believe a man who used to be a very good friend of yours. Could it be that you don't want to remember your past here?"

Mousse stood back, bewildered at Soun's words. "What...what are you saying!? Why would I forget my past or even how could I? It's impossible!"

"I don't know how, but even I know it's possible. Though I do agree that you stay here, if not for what Ryoga says, but for the probability that he could be right. Now if you'll just follow me Mousse..." Soun walked forward, putting an arm around Mousse's shoulders and ushering him to come along with him out of the dojo and into the house with Ryoga following behind. "We'll give you a room to stay in, so you won't be a prisoner here, but I want a promise from you that you will not leave here until we have this whole situation figured out. We have some... family that are coming back from a trip that will want to meet you." 

They walked through the house in silence. Mousse noticed as they walked past the living room, there were two women inside along with three children. The women stared at him intently with wide eyes as they walked past the doorway. Walking up a flight of steps, Mousse sighed heavily. Evidently there was something going on. The way they looked at him, it had seemed almost familiar in a way, like he should know them. Maybe Ryoga was right. Maybe he was this person they had been looking for, but then why couldn't he remember them? He realized that they had stopped in front of a doorway, most likely the place were Soun wanted him to stay.

"Now do you promise that you won't leave this house? You'll stay here until everything is cleared up?"

"I promise you sir. I won't leave your home." He turned to Ryoga. "I'm sorry that I don't know the past that you believe I was a part of. Since you believe so much in this, I'll try my best to remember anything from the past that you say I had here. Though I still believe that you have the wrong person, I can do nothing else."

***********---------------------------------***********

"You're really pretty for a cat, Mao." Mousse said as she lay on her stomach on the bed of the room she had been given. Kicking her legs in the air and holding her head in her hands, she stared at the purple cat that also stared intently at her. "You know, you're the first pet I've ever had. There were mice in the orphanage, but they weren't real pets. It seems like I'm getting everything that I wanted. I have a boyfriend that says he actually loves me, I have you for a pet, and I'm going to actually have a family once we find my mom. Isn't it great?" Mousse stroked the cat's head, scratching behind the ears. "Too bad you can't talk back to me though. You've probably seen my mom as you prowled around the streets. I don't know if she's changed or not, but from a picture I saw of her, I think she's beautiful. With long purple hair, a loving smile, and violet eyes, she seems perfect to me."

Shampoo looked up at Mousse surprised. 'Perfect? How could she think I was perfect? I left her behind in Nerima as a baby, how was that perfect? How was abandoning your child perfect? Why doesn't Mousse hate me for doing this to her?'

Mousse sat up and looked out the window. "Almost sunset, we'll be going to see the elder council soon, Mao. Tonic is going to tell the council that he wants to train in Nerima with Ranma and he'll be able to come back with us. Then we're going to find my mom and tell her everything and bring her back home to Nerima where she belongs. What do you think Mao?"

Mousse turned to look at the purple cat, but found an empty bed. "Mao? Where'd you go, Mao?" Mousse began to search her room. "Come on stop hiding, where are you? Here, kitty kitty..." Her bottom lip began to tremble and she ran down the stairs toward Akane who was in the kitchen cooking. "Akane! Mao is gone, she's gone!"

Turning from the stove, Akane saw a very stricken Mousse before her. "Well Mousse, sometimes cats like to go to a hiding place where no one can find them. Thats how they are, don't worry about it. I'm sure when we come back from the council she'll be sitting in plain sight and very happy to see you."

"You sure, Akane?" Mousse replied, her voice teetering on the brink of crying.

"Yes, I'm sure." Akane handed Mousse a plate and pushed her toward the counter. "Now you can help with our supper, so we all can eat something before we meet the council. No telling how long we'll be there."

Shampoo peeked around the corner at the two in the kitchen. Silently she apologized to Mousse for running out on her, but hearing that they were meeting the elder council in so sort of time, there was something that she had to do. The council alone would never let Tonic out to just train in Nerima with Ranma, even she knew that. Although if she, his teacher, allowed it they may actually let him go and with his recent feelings for Mousse, maybe even possibly over look the fact the he wasn't going to marry Po Mai. Never really did think that girl was right for him anyway. With a second look at the pair, Shampoo turned tail and hurriedly ran out an open window and down the street.

Arriving at the training hall, Shampoo noticed that Po Mai hadn't done her morning or afternoon duties. Bird feeders hadn't been filled, floors of the training hall weren't cleaned, and equipment hadn't been put away. Was there something that she was missing or what? It was never like Po Mai to leave the training hall with duties still to carry out. Was it because of her disappearance last night? Shampoo shook her head. Now was not the time to dwell on the subject. She still had to change back to her normal form and figure out a way to change the council's mind about Tonic and also find a way to finally talk to her daughter.

* * *

It was just as the sun slipped behind the horizon that Tonic and company arrived at the doors of the elder council hall. The two guards in front of them glared at them as they passed by as if they carried with them a deadly disease.

Ranma leaned toward Tonic and whispered to him. "Do they look at everyone like that when they enter the hall?"

"No, just outsiders. Not many people here like to deal with outsiders, they think they bring bad luck." Tonic replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, thats reassuring." Ranma said rolling his eyes. "So what part do we have in this talk with the elders?"

"All you have to do pretty much stand there. I'll have to translate for you if they ask you any questions, but I'll try my best to tell you what they're saying. All right?"

"Yeah, all right, just make sure you tell us the important stuff. Just so you know, this was all your idea and-" Ranma gasped for breath as Akane's elbow collided with his gut. "Why do you keep doing that?" He said through clenched teeth.

"Because you never learn when to shut your mouth!" Akane said with a forced smile.

Ranma was just about to respond to Akane's comment but was quickly silent as he realized they entered the main room where all the elders were gathered. They all looked haggard and old, staring at them from the dark recesses of the cave-like room with the same glaring eyes that the guards had. 

Tonic stepped forward toward the group of elders and bowed to them. "Thank you High Elders for hearing me at this time. It is much appreciated."

A woman that seemed to be the leader, as she wore a headdress that made her stand out from the crowd, stood up and addressed Tonic. "Well, I hope that you will bide your time wisely. We have much to deal with. Now, what is the reason that you wished for these people to be here?"

"Because I wish to be trained in this man's dojo," he motioned toward Ranma. "He has asked me to be an apprentice at his own dojo in Nerima, Japan as I traveled on my trip. I also wish for this apprenticeship for I feel this will help me in my training to become a better Amazon warrior."

"I see and at this dojo, how long will the training take?"

"I...I do not know. Maybe five years or more."

"Five years!? How can training at some dojo, in Nerima nonetheless, take more than five years? I'm sure any Amazon could complete training there in under five months! I mean, what training could be so hard to an Amazon that it would take so long. Nothing is as hard as the training our warriors take on every day."

"High Elder, I highly disagree. The training this man teaches is intensive and learning all the techniques take much time to perfect. You can even ask him yourself." Tonic motioned for Ranma to step up next to him. "Ask him anything and I will translate for you."

The elder eyed Tonic and Ranma warily, biding her time as she chose her questions. "All right then, ask him this. How old was he when he started training?"

Ranma scoffed laughingly at the translation that Tonic gave him. "My father started training on me as soon as I could crawl. We spent all our lives training together and traveling around the world. We were even here once before, though you may not remember us."

The elder stared at Ranma taking in his words as Tonic translated. "How old were you when you inherited your dojo? I suspect that you did inherit it, right?"

"Yes I did, though it was through marriage. I was 22 when Akane and I were married and we inherited the dojo from her father. Even though I was young, I was already a master in nearly every type of fighting that we had encountered. I have beaten countless enemies, many worth the fight and some not worth it, but still I have won over them all. If you think that I am unqualified to teach this boy the techniques of my dojo, then you don't know how to really see a fighter at heart."

"And you want to teach this boy your techniques?"

"Yes." Ranma cocked an eyebrow at the elder, trying to figure out what she was trying to point out.

"Why him?" 

"I don't understand."

"Why do you want to train Tonic? Why not some other local boy from your area? I'm sure that it's more of a hassle for you to come all the way to our village just for him."

"I would like to train Tonic because he has the skills and he reminds me of myself at that age. He's quick witted, strong mentally and physically, and once he has an idea, he won't let go of it. I don't mind traveling if that means I will gain an able-bodied student to my dojo."

The elder paused in her questioning and sat back in her chair. Suddenly there appeared beside her a figure clad in a cloak that covered the entire body, even the head. The High Elder seemed surprised at the cloaked person and started to ask why they were in such a get up. The group stood in a confused state as they watched the High Elder fall silent and lean her ear closer to the cloaked figure to more clearly hear whispered words. After the cloaked one finished talking and received a nod of the head from the High Elder, the person slowly backed away and headed out a back entrance. Ranma looked questionably at Tonic, but he only shrugged his shoulders, saying that he too didn't know what was going on. 

"After receiving some advice from your teacher Tonic, I will grant you this request to train in Nerima, Japan. This man seems to have a good effect on you and training with him will further improve your knowledge on the skills of fighting."

Tonic smiled broadly at the elder and turned to the group, his face beaming with joy. As he told them the translation, Mousse's smile spread across her face and she equally matched the look that Tonic had. As she looked at Tonic, she suddenly remembered something. 

"But Tonic, what about the arranged wedding?" she asked scared of what the answer may be.

"I don't know. They haven't said anything yet. I guess I should ask, shouldn't I?" He smiled apologetically at her and turned back to the group of elders. "Urm...Excuse me, but I meant to ask, what about the arranged marriage that you had for me? What is to become of that?"

The High Elder, who had been talking to another, snapped her head back to look at Tonic. Realization flowed over her face as it seemed that she too had forgotten about it. She looked around the hall, looking to the faces of the other elders. "Well, my boy, actually we weren't even going to mention about that. It has become void since Po Mai herself came just this morning and told us that she wished to marry another. I thought that she might have told you about her decision. And since you still do have a arrangement with us, we can choose another for you to marry, that is, unless you have someone else in mind...Tonic, do you?"

This is were that huge lump in Tonic's throat started to grow. He tried to swallow and found it hard to do. He unconsciously looked back at Mousse before turning back to the High Elder. He began to stammer and stutter an answer but he had trouble answering her on the subject. For some reason he couldn't find the words to say what he wanted. 

The High Elder, who had been trying to make sense of the boy's stumbling words, sighed to herself and leaned back in her chair before she realized something. Tonic had looked back at the group before he began his stammering and she had just figured that he was looking back to the group for reassurance. Though now it was clear for her to see, he had looked to them because of the young girl with them, more likely at her! She peered over Tonic's shoulder at the girl, trying to figure out why it felt like she had seen her before. That face was familiar, very familiar indeed. Tired of the boy's stammering, she cleared her throat, causing him to quiet.

"Tonic, follow me please." She stood from her seat and quietly padded toward a doorway to the left of the hall. Everyone else looked perplexed at the High Elders' action's but no one dared ask why. Tonic gulped once more before following after the High Elder's hunched figure. Entering a small room that seemed to be a place of meditation, Tonic closed the door behind him. The elder beckoned him to sit down in a chair across from the one she had chosen.

"Tonic, there is no need to be afraid. It's just me here." Tonic nodded in understanding. "Now tell me, the girl that came with you, is she the one?" She asked expectantly. "And I don't want you stammering anymore. Tell me yes or no."

"I...well what I mean to say is.." Tonic sighed. "Yes, she is."

"And why is it so hard to tell me that?"

"I didn't think that you would approve. I mean you don't even know her and she's not from here...I just didn't want to pull her into anything that might hurt her."

The High Elder chuckled. "You shouldn't have worried. I'm happy to see that you've actually found someone that you care enough for to act like this. She is very lucky to have gained your attentions."

"Really? You approve? But what about the other elders?"

"And what about them?" She put her hands on her hips. "Who's the High Elder here? I cared for you after your mother died and I promised her then that I wouldn't let anyone treat you the way that she was treated. It was not right and if I had been High Elder then, I could have done something to stop it." The High Elder closed her eyes and paused for a moment. Turning to look at Tonic, she started again. "But that is behind us. So this girl, does she have a name?" 

"Mousse."

"Mousse, eh? That name...it couldn't be...could it?" The elder furrowed her eyes in thought..

"High Elder? Is there something wrong?" 

"No, no there's nothing to worry about. Just tell me one more thing and you all may go. Do you love this girl?"

"Yes, Auntie Fa Li. I love her with all my heart. I don't know why, but I just do."

"Now that is the answer I wanted to hear! Just make sure that she knows you do! And if you feel like asking her to marry you, do not worry about us." She said with a smile and watched Tonic leave the room. After the door closed behind him, she let out a sigh and shook her head in disbelief. "Since she may already be an Amazon, it doesn't really matter."

* * *

Tonic strolled along the pathway with Mousse beside him, a smile on his face that he couldn't get rid of any time soon. Ranma and the rest followed behind him, yet were still confused at what had happed between him and the High Elder.

Mousse kept peeking glances at Tonic as they walked. He hadn't said much after he exited the room and told them they could leave. He just kept that odd grin on his face and he seemed to be a lot more untroubled. As they neared his house, Mousse finally broke down and had to ask him. "Tonic? What happened in that room?"

Tonic turned to look at her and at seeing Mousse's confused face, it softened his expression as he remembered what he had told the elder. "Everything's fine. There's no marriage and they're going to let me travel back to Japan with you guys. Everything's great."

"You sure?" Mousse replied, squinting her eyes to see if he was lying.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You shouldn't worry so much, everything's all right. Now, how about we go look for Mao? You said she went into hiding right? We can look through the whole house tonight and I'm sure we'll find her. Okay?" Mousse could only smile in reply as Tonic took her hand and they both hurried to the house ahead of everyone else.

Mousse burst into the house with Tonic right behind her, throwing the door open and hurriedly looked around the room. "Mao? Mao, come out kitty, kitty!" She called out as they began to search around the room. Tonic strolled over to the living room of his house to look there but stopped as he saw a figure sitting in the shadows, illuminated only by the light of the fire. Immediately he became angry that someone would have the guts to break into his home. "You! Intruder! Why are you in my home?!" he yelled out.

The figure slowly turned and Tonic noticed that it was the same cloak clad figure that had been at the elder council meeting. "I mean no harm to you or anyone else. I only mean to speak to the girl. That is all."

Tonic snorted. "Yeah right, like I'd let you get anywhere near Mousse! You aren't talking to anyone and you are leaving my house immediately!"

The figure shook their head. "This coming from you, Tonic, I'm surprised. You are very much like your mother. Strong and stubborn at the same time."

Tonic stood there mesmerized at the figure's words. "You..you..how do you know about my mother? Just who are you?" He stared at the figure who stayed silent and when Mousse put a hand upon his shoulder, he jumped in shock. 

"What's wrong Tonic?" Mousse spied the dark cloaked figure in the room and squinted her eyes for a better look.

Tonic put an arm in front of her. "Stay back, this person was at the elder council and now he wants to talk to you. I don't trust him. Sitting here in my home in the dark. Not a very fitting way for someone to have a visitor I think." Tonic's words formed into a low growl as he stared ahead.

"Me? Why would they want to talk to me?" Mousse said, captivated that someone wanted to talk to just her, not Tonic. She pushed past Tonic's arm and walked into the room. Tonic began to protest and sputter about how dangerous it could be but all it took was one look from Mousse to silence him. She turned back to the figure and studied him. "So I'm here. What do you have to say to me?"

"I wish for our talk to be private. Can you convince Tonic to leave first?"

A moment later, a sputtering Tonic was pushed out of the room by Mousse and the doors quickly slammed shut behind him. He glared at the doors, knowing he couldn't or at least shouldn't go back in without some good reason, so he stood attentive at the door, waiting for any reason to come inside.

"So what is it you have to say to just me?" Mousse questioned as she sat down on a chair. The figure still stood from where he had risen and was fixated on Mousse.

"I need to ask you some questions. If you can answer me truthfully, I will answer any of your questions truthfully. You are searching for your mother, correct?"

"Yes...how did you know?" Mousse raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"It doesn't matter. Why are you searching for her?"

"She left me behind in Japan as a baby more than fifteen years ago. I want to know why she left me, why she didn't want me!"

The figure turned from Mousse and paced around the room. "The answer to that might not be as simple as you think it is. Maybe she doesn't want to be found."

"Then it's too bad for her. She had me and she can't leave that behind her. I'm her daughter, a part of her, and...I just want to see her once in my life. Even if she hates me, I just want to meet her once to see what kind of person she is." Mousse looked down at the floor and sighed heavily.

"And what do you know of your father? Have you met him?"

"No, I don't know a lot about him, just that he loved my mom very much and that she felt the same way about him."

The figure whirled around and looked at Mousse in surprise. "How do you know that?!"

"Because Ranma, and Akane and everyone else told me. They said that my mother really did love my dad but she hid her feelings from him because of these stupid laws the Amazon have. They all saw it with their own eyes how she felt for him."

"Really? She probably never thought that she was that obvious to the world....My questions are done. Do you want to ask me anything?"

"Who are you?"

"Are you sure you really want to know?"

"Yes, I mean you've been prying into my life. At least I could know whom I've been spilling my guts to. So..."

The figure walked around to a chair that sat across from Mousse and sat down. Reaching out he turned on a lamp that sat beside it and then paused for a moment. "Just tell me one thing, do you hate her even after all that she's done to you?"

"No, I can never hate her. Why do you ask?" questioned Mousse. 

"Because," the figure said as she removed the top of the cloak unveiling purple hair that stopped at the shoulders and violet sparkling eyes, "I am your mother."

Mousse stared in disbelief at the woman before her as she shed the rest of the cloak. This was the person from the photo, the person Akane had pointed out, aged in the years that she had been gone, but it was still unbelievable to her. This was her...her...her mother?

"Momma?" Mousse said, her chin trembling and her eyes starting to water.

Shampoo shook her head in agreement to the question. She didn't know what came over her, but she lifted up her arms and held them out to the trembling child. Immediately Mousse rushed to her and threw her arms around Shampoo. The tears that she had held back for so long were let go and streamed down her cheeks. "Momma, why did you leave? Didn't you want me?"

"Mousse, I'm so sorry that I left you behind." Shampoo said as she stroked the girl's hair, trying her best not to cry as well. "I wanted to keep you, oh how badly I wanted to keep you in my arms."

Mousse leaned back and looked her mother in the eyes. "Then..then..you don't hate me?" Mousse questioned with a sniffle. "I thought that you left me because you didn't want a child."

Shampoo looked with shock at the young girl and then pulled Mousse back into her arms. "Oh, I could never hate you. I didn't keep you because that was what my grandmother told me to do. I was just a young girl and didn't know what was right for me until it was too late. When I finally realized that I should have kept you, I started to wonder if you hated me for leaving you. And if you did, I never wanted to learn that." Shampoo felt her eyes begin to well up with tears as she realized that she was holding her daughter, her daughter in her arms. 

Suddenly the doors to the room slammed open and Tonic stomped inside, wanting to know what was going on, but his angry eyes softened as he saw Mousse and Shampoo sitting there with tears in their eyes. Quickly he backtracked out of the room until he slammed up against a body. He looked up to see Ranma also looking at the scene with sympathy in his face.

Ranma walked over to the two and put a hand on Shampoo's shoulder, alerting her to his presence. "Hey, glad to see that you came by."

Shampoo smiled at Ranma and sniffled. "Sorry I acted the way I did. I should have listened to you, but I'm glad that you did come by." Shampoo looked down at Mousse. "Or else I wouldn't have been able to meet my daughter."

"Glad to hear someone was happy I came." Ranma paused a moment before sitting down. "Listen there's something I have to tell you. When Mousse came to us, we decided that we were going to help find her parents, BOTH her parents. You realize that we came after you and Ryoga and Ukyo went searching for Mousse."

"Yes, I understand that. So what happened? Can't they find him?" Shampoo asked, a little worried in what the answer might be.

"No, no, they found him all right. They brought him to our home in Nerima and are waiting for us to come back. It's just that he...kami, even I still don't believe it, but he somehow lost his memory. He doesn't remember Nerima at all and...he doesn't remember you."

Shampoo tightened her grip around Mousse at Ranma's words. "He..he what?"

******

Wow! What a blast to the face this chapter was and so long! I was amazed that it took me this long to write out the main confrontations. Hope you liked it and the end is soon to come in maybe one or two more chappies, well actually now that I think about it, it will probably be two or three before it's actually all done. 

On another note, I hope that I can start on getting the rest of the story done for "When I Thought I'd Lost You". My brain has frazzled at the story arc and I can't figure out a good enough way to get out of it and end their story, But I'll make it work. And then maybe I can start on my third Mousse-Shampoo story.... 

Sorry to those out there that ask for a Ranma-Shampoo pairing from me. I just can't do it. I may try just a one shot, but thats as far as I could go. I have never really seen any potential way in them to have a relationship and if I even tried it would most likely turn back to a Mousse-Shampoo pairing at the end. I just think that Akane is solely for Ranma and no one else.

Thanks for reading!

^_^ (\/) cyancat


	11. Even In My Dreams

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) Cyancat ****

Forgotten Memories

Chapter Ten - Even In My Dreams

Night had quickly fallen upon the Tendo home and everyone was asleep in their rooms, save for one. Mousse stared out of the window of the room he had been assigned, wishing so much to understand what was happening to him. He had been there for a few days and still did not believe what everyone was telling him, yet felt that they weren't telling him everything.

"Am I really the boy that these people once knew?" Mousse questioned the clear night sky that he gazed upon. "How could I forget a past like this, forget these people that are obviously hurt so much by that fact?"

Not even believing what he was saying, Mousse sighed once and turned his back to the wall, sliding down the surface until he sat on the floor. He had been supplied with a futon to sleep in, though his warriors' instincts told him this place was not a position to be comfortable in, at least for the moment. Leaning against the wall, pointed toward the door, poised and ready for combat, he'd feel better sleeping like this. Almost immediately he felt the pull of sleep overcome him and his head drooped down in a deep slumber.

**********************************************

I'm so tired of being here 

suppressed by all of my childish fears 

and if you have to leave

I wish that you would just leave

because your presence still lingers here 

and it won't leave me alone

Mousse raised his head, hearing words whispered in his ear, sleepy eyes filtering out what was before him. Everything seemed blurred before him, even though how much he blinked and rubbed his eyes. He realized that darkness surrounded him, yet he couldn't see clearly. He blindly looked around, wanting to find the one that spoke these words to him.

these wounds won't seem to heal

this pain is just too real

there's just too much that time cannot erase

Mousse watched as a figure walked toward him and he stood up rapidly, ready to fight, though a moment later found that he had no weapons on him. He stared down at his blurred hands, not knowing what to do. He looked up at the figure and his vision instantly cleared and he stepped back in a daze. There stood before him the image of the boy that he had seen in the photo. His mouth fell open, agape at what he was seeing right before his eyes. He reached out, trying to see if he was real or not before him. Tentatively stretching out his hand, Mousse tried to grab the boy's shoulder, but it sank right through his body and like a ghost the boy's image instantly vanished. The whispered words faded in again by Mousse's ear and he closed his eyes, lulled by the melodic voice that whispered so close.

when you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears 

when you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears 

and I've held your hand through all of these years 

but you still have all of me 

you used to captivate me 

by your resonating light 

but now I'm bound by the life you left behind 

your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams 

your voice it chased away all the sanity in me 

It was then that he heard a muffled sound that could only be known as sobbing. Turning quickly to look, he saw that same boy sitting upon a bed, bent over in what he could only imagine, grief, hands covering his face and tears flowing freely.

"I'M NOT WORTHY TO BE CALLED AN AMAZON!" the boy suddenly screamed out and with this, his image faded away, the words echoing around Mousse. There was a sudden pain to the left temple of his head and he instantly brought a hand to the sore spot. Seconds later there was a clanking sound and he turned to see the boy again, yet now his clothes were tattered and torn while looking worn and bruised himself. He was standing inside a cage and staring dead straight at Mousse, shaking the bars he held onto. Mousse couldn't help but stare back at the boy, the fixation of his blue-grey eyes pulling him in. 

Again, the boy cried out, "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! JUST LET ME SEE HER AGAIN! I CAN'T LOSE HER NOW! I PROMISED HER!!"

A blinding pain flowed over the right side of Mousse's head and he cringed at the ache, not noticing the boy and his cage fade away.

these wounds won't seem to heal 

this pain is just too real 

there's just too much that time cannot erase 

when you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears 

when you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears 

and I've held your hand through all of these years 

but you still have all of me 

Mousse looked around him as the sound of footsteps appeared in the darkness. The throbbing of his head still hurt, yet had begun to melt away slowly. It was then that he saw a faint outline of a figure far ahead of him, walking ever so slowly toward the endless darkness.

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone 

and though you're still with me 

I've been alone all along.

"Stop you! Tell me, what is going on?" he called out to the figure. He started walking and then running toward the figure, knowing that he had to speak to this person, whomever they were. With every step he took, his vision blurred even more and with it, the image of the walking figure. "Stop I tell you! Please, just tell what happened to me!" he called out once more as he stopped running, realizing that he would never reach them. The figure stopped in the distance and then turned around to face him. The person spoke a word that his ears did not catch, though they did not stop them from talking. Again the figure spoke a little bit louder and this time it rang true to his ear. "Idiot!" 

Mousse stepped back one stride, as the blow of the word to his mind was as powerful enough like a punch to the stomach. More words the figure spoke and, Mousse realized, in the same voice that had whispered so closely to his ear. They began to repeat them over and over, becoming louder with every recurrence. "Idiot! Stupid! Blind-Duck! Child! Weak-Cursed-Boy! Half-Wit! Idiot! Stupid! Blind-Duck! Child! Weak-Cursed-Boy! Half-Wit! Idiot! Stupid! Blind-Duck! Child! Weak-Cursed-Boy! Half-Wit!"

There was suddenly a resounding pain that came to the front of Mousse's head like a bullet train had hit him head on. He couldn't take hearing these words anymore, for he realized that they brought on the pain. He cried out, clutching his head with his hands, wanting this terrible pain to go away. Sinking down to the floor on his knees and still holding his head, Mousse screamed out once more before fainting to the floor.

*******************************************

Mousse awoke gasping for air, forcefully gulping it in. He nearly collapsed to the floor and leaned on his arms for support. His body felt weak and after a moment, he quickly noticed that he was covered in a layer of sweat. His eyes wildly looked around the room and realized that he had been dreaming. The room in the Tendo dojo that he stayed in was just the same as when he had fallen asleep. Regaining his composure, Mousse leaned back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling, remembering his nightmare. He didn't dare close his eyes, as he feared that he may fall asleep again and then relive that nightmare. It had seemed almost real, as if it had really happened to him, but dreams weren't real, were they?

***************************

Shampoo threw open the door that lead from the living room to the main hall in a rage at Tonic's house. She fumed and cursed wildly in Mandarin, causing Tonic to wince at times for her choice of words. She stalked towards the front door with Mousse quickly following behind her. Quickly Ranma was in front of her, blocking her way to the door. 

"Shampoo, just what in the world are you doing? One moment you were fine and now you're madder than a hornet's nest!"

Shampoo stared at him for a moment, her eyes studying him. "I'm going to see Great-grandmother. She had to of done this!"

She pushed Ranma out of her way and stalked towards the door. But as she grasped the door handle, Ranma stopped her with a hand on her arm. "What makes you think that Cologne did this to Mousse? What reason do you have that would mean she caused Mousse to lose his memory?"

Shampoo turned quickly and glared at Ranma, her eyes burning with anger. She flicked her arm, causing Ranma to let go of her. She walked a few steps away from him, seeing Akane and Tonic step closer to them.

"How do you think that I got all of those things when we were younger? All those potions, powders, and even the shampoo I used on Akane! Where do you think they all came from, huh Ranma? Out of thin air? No, it was all her. She gave me every single one of those things. It was all her doing, everything has been her fault from the start!" She turned back to look at Mousse and then at Ranma and Akane. "She was the one who told me we had to leave Nerima! She wouldn't even let me keep Mousse after she was born! Everything has been all her fault!"

Shampoo put her hands to her face, feeling tears squeeze their way out of her violet eyes. She dropped down to her knees and sat on the floor, letting the tears flow along with her words. "I never wanted to go! I..I actually hoped that he would come back some day, that we would be able to be a normal family." 

Akane stepped forward towards the prone figure of Shampoo and knelt down beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder for comfort. Akane realized that Shampoo had gone through a lot of torment because of this and wanted to somehow show that she understood everything. She opened her mouth to speak, but found that whatever she wanted to say couldn't be said in words, there just wasn't any way to say it. Shampoo looked up at the woman that she used to hate so much and smiled weakly at her in gratitude.

"That's... That's why I gave Mousse her name. It's why I named her after her father, so I would have to only leave one person, one name behind. I thought that I would never see either of them again, so I didn't want to have to burden myself with a past that I could never recognize again."

Shampoo then felt the tears start to break through again and hid her face with her hands. She couldn't stand for them to see her this way. A thin pair of arms slowly wrapped around her neck and she realized that it was Mousse who was hugging her. "You don't have to cry anymore, Momma." she whispered. "You have me now... and we can still be a family, I'm not grown up yet. We can still be together. Alright, Momma?" 

Shampoo opened her teary eyes and saw her daughter before her, also on the verge of crying again with tears in her eyes. She wiped her face with a hand and smiled at Mousse. "Okay, Mousse, okay. I think I haven't been able to get over it until now." she paused for a moment, taking in the moment as she stared down at Mousse, "You want a real family, right?" Mousse shook her head in agreement. "Good, then we're going to leave as soon as possible and meet your father."

Mousse's jaw dropped open in shock at her mother's words. She numbly let her mother stand her up and hold her close. She couldn't believe it, she was going to have her family! Shampoo put an arm around Mousse and looked at the rest of the group in the room with a smile. "Thank you all for helping out with this. I never knew how good of friends you guys really were. Do you think it's possible for us to leave tomorrow morning."

"Sure," Ranma replied. "But we could even leave tonight. Why not go now?"

"I have to talk to Great-grandmother. If she is really at fault for all of this...if she is the reason that Mousse never came back...then I could never forgive her. I have to know the truth, plus if she did do it, then she'll know how to undo it." 

"You sure you don't want some company?" Akane questioned.

Shampoo shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. It's better if its just me anyway. She's my grandmother and therefore, I must deal with her." 

With one last hug to Mousse, Shampoo quickly ran out the front door into the night air. The group stared after her for a moment, still bewildered at what had happened. Akane coughed to break the silence and then clapped her hands together, gathering everyone's attention. "Well, boys and Mousse, lets get going! Get upstairs and get packing! We're not going to be staying here anymore than we need. Home is waiting!"

Akane and Ranma watched as Genma ambled slowly up the staircase after a rushed Tonic and Mousse, who laughed between themselves. As soon as they had vanished from sight, Ranma turned and quickly grabbed Akane by the waist, pulling her close to him. Caught off guard by this, Akane shrieked for a moment before being silenced by Ranma's lips as he kissed her deeply. She could only stand there in the sheer amazement of the moment before quickly melting into his arms. After what seemed to be an eternity of his lips upon hers, Ranma released her and Akane had to forcibly open her eyes. Still drunk off the power of the kiss that Ranma had given her, Akane looked up at him as he smirked in his usual way. 

"What was that for?" She questioned, half wishing that he hadn't stopped. 

"Well, I just realized once again how much I love you and I couldn't help myself from kissing you. Shampoo said some things that reminded me of a lot of the reasons why I fell in love with you in the first place. I just had to act on my emotions. You...aren't mad that I did it, are you?"

Akane sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. "No, no, not at all." Akane said as she pulled herself closer to him, whispering in his ear. "In fact, I'd enjoy it if you kissed me like that more often."

Ranma smiled smugly back down at Akane. "Well, that won't be a problem." he said and leaned down for another powerful kiss with his adoring wife.

******************************

It wasn't until late that night, when Mousse realized that her mother had come back after she had fallen asleep. She had tried to stay awake until she arrived back, but the fatigue from the past few days was too much and as soon as her head hit the pillow, dreams filled her head. Mousse had awoken as soon she felt another presence in the room and quickly noticed that it was her mother asleep on the bed beside her. She smiled at her mother's form and snuggled up closer, reveling in the warmth that her mother gave off. She knew that they had a lot ahead of them before they could really be a family, but now, she thought to herself, maybe they could start trying.

***************

Shampoo felt the bed shift a bit minutes after she had laid down. Looking through half-closed eyes, she watched Mousse scoot closer to her and settle her back comfortably against her mother's stomach. She sighed quietly and wrapped an arm around Mousse. No way would she have gone back to her own bed, not with her daughter right here. She had to make sure that every moment counted, she had to make up for lost time. Her thoughts quickly trailed back to where she had been for the past five hours. At first she had run rampaging to her Great-grandmother's house, bursting through the door and finding her sitting at her dinner table, drinking tea. 

Her emotions taking over, she ranted and raved at the woman for an hour before she finally grew tired. Later, after her grandmother had been able to get a clear picture of what had happened, Shampoo was shocked. Her great-grandmother had no idea of what had happened to Mousse those many years ago, nor had any idea why he had no memory of them or Nerima. Something inside her wanted to scream out at her great-grandmother, to make her say that she had done it. There had to be a scapegoat for this, because... she couldn't bear to imagine that it was her fault.

Before she had weakly left the house, her grandmother gave her a bag of silver powder that she had never seen before. When she quizzically looked at her grandmother, Cologne told her that it was Delina pollen and it was to be used only as a precaution if nothing else worked. Shampoo shook her head in agreement and left the house into the dark night.

Usually called Delirium Powder by the elders, delina pollen was a drug that intoxicated the senses that came from a rare flower that bloomed in the darkest of night. Sending the user into a torment of delirium and hysteria, it had been used by the elders of years ago when they wanted to contact the spirits. The Delina pollen, however, had been banned as many people who used it, never came back fully and were sedate the rest of their lives or went crazy with the visions that flew past their eyes all day.

Shampoo had clutched the bag to her as she walked down the road to Tonics house. She knew what could happen if the powder was used. Mousse could be lost to her forever even if he remembered her or not. But if his soul was strong enough, he could return back to the man that she used to know and love.

* * *

The trip back to Japan from China had been, well at the most it hadn't been too problematic,....for the most part. On the other hand, when the old man refuses to fly in a plane, and converts to his panda form to get out of it, how else are they supposed to act while inside an airport than to start beating on him? When security shows up and with customs right on their tail, what else can you do but run off with him into the bathroom and drench him in the toilet. Then to be the lucky person to sit beside that stinking piece of old man during the whole plane trip,.... well thank goodness they didn't have to deal with that, but they felt extremely sorry for the man who did.

Arriving at the Tokyo International Airport, Shampoo was amazed at how everything still looked the same. Ranma mentioned that they could probably walk back to the dojo from there as it wasn't too far of a walk and it would help to have sometime between arriving in Nerima to meeting that person at home.

The walk to the Tendo home was a very quiet one at that. Ranma and Akane couldn't figure out anything to say between them to help reassure Shampoo and Mousse and Genma was not saying anything after he had been splashed once more with cold water. Mousse walked in hand with Shampoo and would occasionally smile up at her mother to receive a bright smile back and a squeeze of her hand.

Tonic brought up the rear, looking as jealous as any boy in love would look. He knew that the whole reason he even met Mousse, nonetheless that he fell in love with her, was because of her trek to find her parents. This whole thing was about Mousse and her parents and yet he wanted her to pay more attention to him. He just wished that he could be there, holding her hand and receiving those smiles. Looking down to the ground, he studied the sidewalk as they trekked along the city streets. He had to stop making it harder on himself than it really was and so he had to stop watching her. Suddenly he felt a warm hand clasp his empty one and looked up, his eyes wide in shock staring 

at its owner. 

Mousse smiled warmly at Tonic as his head jerked up from her sudden grabbing of his hand. She had noticed he wasn't looking the same since they had arrived in Tokyo and was beginning to worry about him. 

"Tonic, you okay?"

"Yeah,...I-I'm fine." He stammered, still bewildered at the beautiful girl that walked beside him.

"You sure? You didn't look so good just a moment ago. There's something thats bothering you, I know it. So just tell me." Mousse said as she squeezed his hand.

Tonic shook his head. "Its... I was just getting a little jealous I guess. Everyone was paying attention to you, Mousse and you've been with your mom the whole time since we left... I-I just felt left out." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, surprised that he had actually said what was on his mind, but it was probably the hand that clasped his that did it.

"You shouldn't have to worry about that Tonic. I'm sorry if I made you feel like that, I just got caught up in everything. But, I won't do that anymore. Mom is gonna have a lot to do with Dad and I know I'll be in the way until he remembers, so...you willing to spend a lot more time with me?" Mousse meekly questioned and looked up at Tonic's face.

A wide smile spread across his lips and it seemed as if his face brightened three shades. "S-Sure, I'd love to Mousse!"

"Great!" Mousse exclaimed. She then pondered for only a moment as she stared up at him before acting on her intuition and quickly reached out with both hands. Grabbing his head with her hands, she pulled him towards her and met his lips with hers. She held him close for a few seconds more before releasing him, leaving both of them gasping for breath.

"I-I..." Tonic stumbled for words as he was still in a daze from the astounding kiss. 

Mousse giggled to herself as she saw how Tonic reacted. It was funny to see how he responded to her affections, especially after what had happened back in China. Grabbing his hand, she towed the stuttering boy along beside her as they caught up with the rest of the group.

* * *

"So what do you think that we should do now?" Ryoga asked Ukyo as they watched the children practice in the dojo.

"I don't know. Ranma hasn't called us back since we called him five days ago. Who knows whats happened. All we can do is wait." Ukyo replied and then stepped in to help Taka reposition his stance as he practiced with Shouji.

Ryoga nodded at the boys as they looked to him for reassurance before starting again. Ukyo stepped back beside him and involuntarily put a hand over her growing stomach, the bulge clearly visible through the front of her shirt. Ryoga saw her involuntary move and put an arm around her shoulders. "Well, at least he hasn't given us any trouble. He's really not himself."

"Of course he's not himself, Ryoga!" Ukyo playfully slapped him with a smile. "That's basically another person sitting in the living room. I don't know were the old Mousse went, but its not in there."

*****************

Shampoo stared up at the arch of the doorway that led to the Tendo home. It had been so long and she was finally returning. Looking ahead of her, the rest of the group stood at the front door waiting for her to join them. She smiled lightly and gingerly took a step inside the gate. Another step and another and another, Shampoo slowly made it to the front door.

The door opened with a slam and the group of six entered the house, removing shoes and dropping bags. Ranma looked around for signs of life.

"Hello? Anyone home? We're back!" He called out to the seemingly empty house. Getting no answer, he sighed and walked down the hall. He heard the television on in the living room and rolled his eyes. Grabbing the door, he quickly yanked it open. He stood there motionless, mouth open, ready to shout, but no sound came out. What he saw before him was the Mousse that he used to know, only now grown up some. He wore a full black robe and even though he wore no glasses, he had been staring intently at the television. Mousse turned to look at him and Ranma didn't see one bit of recognition in his eyes. He really had forgotten.

"Hello, I must not have heard you come in. Sorry about that," Mousse said as he stood up from his seat. "If you're looking for Ukyo and Ryoga, they're in the dojo with the children."

"So that's where they are. I'd be like them to not be here at the most opportune moment." Ranma sighed and scratched his head. "Well, it's better to have someone greet us even if its not them."

"Ranma? Are they here or did we find ourselves an empty home?" came Akane's voice as she followed him down the hall. Ranma looked over his shoulder and shook his head.

"NO, there's some one here alright.'

Akane moved around him, a smile on her lips as she walked until she stood beside Ranma in the doorway. "Well, then who is...here..?" Akane's jaw nearly dropped as she saw Mousse stand before her, clad in his black robes. "Oh my.." she managed to say before going silent again.

Then right behind her walked Genma making a bee-line for the bathroom. Mousse followed, her hand still clasped on Tonic's and pulled him into the living room before stopping in her tracks, staring at the man in the room. 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Mousse stood there, feeling very uncomfortable, as these strange people were staring at him intently with some reason that he had no idea for. He opened his mouth to speak up, but then he heard a melodic voice float down towards him. "Hey, is there something wrong? Where's Ryoga and Ukyo? I thought they were meeting us here." It seemed so familiar to him, this voice that sounded so sweet. All four people in the doorway had turned their heads to see this person walk down the hall and dutifully gave way to her as she approached the door. She had looked at the group of people questionably first before turning her attention to him and Mousse couldn't help but gasp in awe at her. 

She stopped in mid footfall and her mouth fell open in a hushed gasp, but nonetheless, she was beautiful! By the gods! By everything living! This woman had to be an angel or a tenyo! Her shoulder length hair was a brilliant shimmering shade of purple and her shining violet eyes added to her total beauty. What more could be said about her, but to say that she was perfect in every way. Quickly, as his mind regained control over him once more, he tried to think of something to say to her.

"Welcome, my lady. My name is Mousse." he stepped forward and took her left hand. "Would you please indulge me with your name?"

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Shampoo couldn't believe it. She had only walked down the hall to see why every one had stopped to stare into the living room and when she had to have a look, it was a flash back in itself. It was Mousse that stood before her, even though dressed entirely in black and he wore no glasses, she knew that it was him exactly. She tried to stifle a gasp escaping from between her lips and she stopped walking instantly. He had hardly even changed, his hair was still the same and his eyes still rang a true blue-gray, but she saw no spark in them. There was no spark that had lived inside him for years as they had grown together. That spark had been the love he had for her and now it was gone. As all of these thoughts came rushing to her head, she blocked them all out as she watched him walk towards her and take her left hand.

"Welcome, my lady. My name is Mousse." he said to her and smiled widely. "Would you please indulge me with your name?"

Shampoo stared at him for another moment, not believing what had just happened. Feeling his warm hand wrap around hers, she looked down at his hand and then back up at his face. So many parts of her told her to do different things, but for some reason, only one thing came to mind.

Her right hand curled into a ball and before she knew it, she had smacked him squarely across the room and out into the backyard. He lay there on his back on the grass, clearly knocked out cold as little swirlies formed in his eyes. Shampoo stood there staring after him, huffing in anger before turning around and stalking into the house. Mousse and Tonic just stared in disbelief at what had just happened before them, mouths agape in astonishment. Mousse watched her mother walk off before grabbing Tonic's hand and pulling him with her into the house after Shampoo.

Ranma slowly turned to Akane . "Well, that seemed like a good first reaction. Don't you think?" 

She smiled up at him and then looked back outside. "Yeah, I'd say that was about normal for her and for what happened. Can't blame her for feeling that she needed to do it. Even I'd hit you if you did that to me."

"What are talking about! You hit me all the time and I haven't done anything as worse as he did!" Ranma exclaimed in his defense.

"Exactly, and just keep that in mind if you ever get the notion to do something without thinking first."

* * *

*****************************************************

Hey, all!! 

Thanks for sticking with me through the long process of writing this story!! The lyrics that you read here were from Evanescence's song "My Immortal." I just loved the lyrics to that song and when I heard it, I instantly thought of my story!!

As of for the ending of this chapter, you'd hit anyone who'd done you a wrong like this, right? I know I would and I figure that the Ranma crew still have these little temperments.

Next chapter:

Shampoo and Mousse meet under better terms and start to talk more of the past. More of Mousse's past is revealed and how he lost his memory is revealed (at least to us anyway). This next one may be the next to last chapter, so stay tuned, the end is getting closer!

Thanks for reading!! Please Review!! I love to see the count go up and up!! If I have to, I might not update until I get some more reviews, at least 25-30 total count, so come on people! Review, Review, Review!!!

^_^ (\/) cyancat 


	12. After All These Years

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) Cyancat ****

**Forgotten Memories **

**Chapter Eleven – After All These Years**

            Shampoo clutched her left hand to her chest as she sat on the bed in Kisa's room.  Earlier, it had been elected that Shampoo and Mousse stay with Kisa in her room while the other Mousse still occupied the guest room.

            Looking out the window, she watched Ranma and Ryoga revive the fallen Mousse from his unconscious state.  The blow she dealt him had taken him out for over five hours now and it still amazed everyone that it had happened. Shampoo smiled lightly as she saw Mousse groggily sit up and hold his head. Clasping her hand closer to her, Shampoo looked away and closed her eyes as she remembered what had just happened that morning.  She could still feel the warmth of his hand upon hers, seeing his blue-gray eyes stare down at her, and his mouth curve into a bright smile.

            It had just been too much at one moment for her.  Everything that she had kept inside for the past years finally broke out and she couldn't hold it back. It almost seemed to be like it used to be sixteen years ago, smacking him around whenever she felt that he was being idiotic. But now, what with having a child and all, it could never be the same as it was.

Shampoo looked up as she heard the sound of heavy footsteps upon the stairs and then voices, belonging to Ranma, Ryoga, and Mousse.

"Sorry about this Mousse. Shampoo, she… she's gone through a lot and I guess you just caught her off guard. Honestly, she doesn't do that to everyone."

"You could've fooled me! Urgghh, my head feels like a top. I've been out for how long? Five hours? She does know how to pack a punch, I must say. Never even saw it coming…"

"Well, I don't think you could have missed it even if you saw it coming! She's able to always get her way, no matter the consequences. Heck, this guy knows that better than anyone else here!"

"Hey Ryoga, just shut up for once! Mousse, just rest up for a bit. Supper'll be ready in a bit so we'll send someone to call for you when it's done. Okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. Ummm… you're Ranma, right?"

"You got it. Just don't worry about names, learning them can be done during supper."

"I'll be there, I can assure you that. Food is something I always look forward to, just… no leeks please. I hate those things."

"Sure, I'll tell my wife you said so. Come on Ryoga, let's leave him to rest."

"Ha! Rest? He's been sleeping for five hours already! He's had enough rest…but if you say so. See ya, Mousse."

As Ryoga and Ranma's footsteps faded down the stairs, Shampoo listened as Mousse entered his room and closed the door behind him. She sighed once and looked around the room. How silly was this? Here she sat in a child's room while the man that used to be one that she loved was only 10 feet away. Why couldn't she make herself face him? Tell him the truth about everything? Shampoo shook her head knowing her own arrogance.  Because, he wouldn't believe a word of it. He'd deny everything.  Then it'd be even harder for her to get answers out of him to figure out what happened in his past.  She didn't need that and neither did her daughter. 

"Mousse, why couldn't you remember me?"

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

            Knock. Knock. Knock.

            Tonic paused to listen as he stood in front of Shampoo's door. He heard what he thought to be a muffled gasp, but he figured that it was nothing.

            "Come in." was the faint call back and Tonic obediently opened the door.

            He first saw Shampoo sitting at the desk in the room. She was hurriedly rubbing her face as if she was trying to hide something. As she turned to face him, though with a smile on her face, Tonic could see what she wanted to hide. Tears.

            "Hey, ummm. Akane says that supper's ready. Did you want to come down and eat with us?"

            Shampoo shook her head as he reached a hand up to wipe her eyes once more. "Yes, thank you Tonic. I'll be down in a bit. Where's Mousse?"

            Tonic scratched the back of his head. "Oh, she's helping out with the food. Akane needed some extra help."

            "I see, well go on ahead. I'll be there, don't worry about me. Alright Tonic?"

            Tonic nodded in understanding and backed out of the doorway, closing the door along with him.  He stared blankly for a moment at the wooden door before turning his head to glance down the hall at the next door he was to visit. With an exasperated sigh, Tonic turned and walked towards the guest room door. Raising his hand to rap on the door, his mind reeled as he tried to think of the best thing to say to Mousse. It wasn't everyday you had to talk to your girlfriend's father, nonetheless who didn't even know that she existed. Ranma had told him to be careful about what he said to Mousse, so he had to clear his mind of anything that he might blurt out.

            Finally after a long pause, Tonic rapped on the door and waited for an answer.

            "Door's open." He heard and just like before, obediently entered.

            Gazing around the room, Tonic noticed Mousse sitting by the window, who turned to look at his visitor and smiled.

            "Hello there. I don't think I've met you yet." Mousse said as he stood up and walked towards Tonic, "What's your name?"

            Tonic noticed Mousse extend his hand in greeting and slowly reached out to take it. "Tonic, sir."

            Tonic smiled up at the man before him and relaxed a bit as he realized he too was nervous. "Good to meet you Tonic. I'm Mousse, if you haven't already learned that.  Are you… a part of this family?"

            "Umm... well sort of... in a way. I'm from the tribe that Mast… Shampoo is from. We traveled here together from China. But anyway, I'm supposed to tell you that supper is ready. You going to come down?"

            Mousse leaned down close to whisper to Tonic. "Are there any leeks?"

            Tonic's smile widened laughingly at Mousse. "No, not that I've seen so far sir."

            Mousse smiled back at the boy, glad to hear that he was part of that joke too. "Good, that's good to hear. I'll be down in a moment. I still have yet to clear my mind from my… earlier event."

            "Sure sir. I understand, just hurry though. Ranma can really pack it in quick."

            With his final words, Tonic hurried out of the room and down the stairs. Mousse laughed to himself at the boy's exuberance. So he was from the same tribe as her, hmm? He hadn't thought that the children were from there as well. But now he noticed the similarities between Shampoo and that girl from earlier.

            Shaking his head once more to clear himself, Mousse exited his room and as soon as he shut the door behind him, he heard another door slam down the hall. Spinning around to see what had made the sound, his eyes widened as he stared eye to eye with the woman he had "met" earlier that day.

            Shampoo could only stare in shock at the man before her. Slamming the door had only been a reaction from seeing him again as he exited his room. Shampoo couldn't help it as her whole body locked up and their eyes met. Her hands fidgeted as she stared ahead. There was an uneasy silence between them as the two could only stare at the other. 

Finally Shampoo broke the silence as she stammered out a few words. "Sorry to… startle you like that."

Mousse seemed to blank out for a moment before coming back and regaining his composure. "No, it's alright. Not everyday someone gets the jump on me, twice even."

Shampoo blushed and looked away from Mousse's gaze. "Well, I guess we'd better get to supper then."

Mousse nodded in agreement as Shampoo started walking towards him. As she walked past, Mousse gulped once before hesitantly reaching out and tapping her shoulder. When Shampoo felt his hand upon her shoulder, she spun around in an automatic reflex. Her eyes, which had hardened because of her reaction, softened the moment she saw Mousse's uneasy face, eyes cast down to the floor.

"Listen, I ah, well I wanted to say sorry. I feel as if we got off on the track. I got out of line earlier and I deserved what you gave me. I am sorry about it. Could we try again, maybe?" Mousse uneasily looked up at Shampoo, hoping for the best.

Shampoo looked up at him, studying his face, scrutinizing to see if he really spoke the truth. Finally after a few moments of silence, Shampoo smiled and nodded. "Sure, I'd like that very much."

"Great." Mousse held out his hand. "I'm Mousse."

Shampoo looked at his hand before placing her hand in his. "And I'm Shampoo."

"It's nice to meet you Shampoo. Say, shall we head to supper?" Mousse questioned, a smile broadening his face.

"Yes, I think we should. I just hope there aren't any leeks there." Shampoo spoke as Mousse lead them down the stairs.

He nearly faltered a step hearing her words, but quickly caught himself. "Did-did you say leeks?"

"Yeah, I hate those silly green things." Shampoo looked back up at Mousse, her eyes catching the surprise in his face. "Even though I know they're good for you and all, but I just can't stand'em."

The pair rounded the corner towards the living room. "Really? You know, I feel the same way. Leeks are just terrible." Mousse gripped Shampoo's hand tighter. "Well Shampoo, it seems we do have something in common."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

            The next five days seemed to quickly pass by for Shampoo. Ever since that first night she had talked with Mousse, she had hoped that something would come of it. But every morning she would look in his eyes, searching for that past spark and would find nothing. Maybe it was hopeless, but she kept hoping that something would happen. Though, it had been long ago that they had even last seen each other, maybe he had forgotten her forever. 

Shampoo sat up from her futon on the floor from where she had been laying for the past few hours. Sleep wouldn't come and she knew why. Standing up, she looked to the bed in the room and smiled at Mousse's sleeping form next to Kisa. She swept a hand across Mousse's forehead, pulling back stray hairs behind her ear.  She pulled the blanket back up to cover her shoulders and paused a moment staring at her sleeping form before turning and walking to the window.

Night had swept across the city as easily as it did every night.  The sky had opened up to show the vast amount of stars that were scattered across the night plain and made it seem as if everything was all right in the world. Shampoo sighed once before opening the window and stepping up onto its ledge. She had done this many a time in the past to get into the Tendo house and it was just as easy to get out.  The roof ledge was just close enough to the windows that any person with good physical strength could pull themselves up. Tonight, she just wanted to have the night to herself. 

Sitting on the crown of the roof, Shampoo hugged her legs to her chest and looked around her. Might it have been something she said to him that made him never come back? That night, did she falter and tell him something that he couldn't take? Closing her eyes, she thought back to the last time she had seen Mousse. The night that stayed alive through her dreams.

*****

            "Mousse…are sure you want to leave?" Shampoo said as she held his arm, looking up at the pained face of the boy that had come to her for comfort and all it seemed to be was that she pained him more.

            "You, you don't mind me being here? I mean, I must seem so weak and stupid right now…" Mousse said as he put a hand to his face, rubbing his face to try and rid himself of the tears.

            Shampoo sighed and shook her head. "No, you don't seem that way at all. We all need a time to release. Just sit down, please?"

            Mousse stared at her for a moment before shaking his head obediently and sitting back down on the bed next to Shampoo.

************

            Shampoo reached out and took off Mousse's glasses as his body shuddered from a streak of tear-filled grieving. Placing the glasses on the bed stand next to her, she turned to look at the boy next to her. She looked to his face and then to his closed eyes and she knew he couldn't look at her for fear of being pained any more.  Shampoo felt something stir within her and she couldn't help but to reach out for him. Biting her bottom lip, she reached out her left hand and brushed it against his cheek, wiping away a tear with her thumb. 

            Mousse's eyes fluttered open at the touch of her hand and looked at Shampoo. He opened his mouth to speak, but was stunned as Shampoo pulled him towards her body in a crushing hug. He closed his eyes once more and wrapped his arms around her, feeling that if he let her go, he let go of his own life. 

After a few moments, Shampoo released her arms that were wrapped around Mousse and brought them to his face.  She pulled his head up from laying against her shoulder and stared at his face for a moment before succumbing to what her heart wanted. Quickly she moved in close and brought her lips against his. She knew that this was what he needed and what she needed.

************

            Shampoo's head jerked up as the images of the past flew by her eyes. Kami, why did this torture have to go on? She rubbed the bridge of her nose as she fought back any tears that might threaten to escape. Now wasn't the time for crying. She had done enough of that in her lifetime. She looked up and watched a falling star pass by in the sky. The star lead her eyes down to the opposite end of the roof and to where the guest room window would be. She thought to herself for a moment. Maybe she could just look in on him. See how he was doing tonight. Maybe even seeing him would help to strengthen her for another day of trying. 

            Standing up quickly, she scurried over the rest of the roof towards the edge that hung over Mousse's room. Locking her legs on the edge rail as she had so many times seen Ranma do, she flipped herself over the edge. As soon as she opened her eyes to look inside the room, they widened in fear as they met a pair of equally surprised blue-gray eyes. Her mouth fell open as best it could in the upside down position and Shampoo felt her whole body lock up. Her legs began to slip off the roof edge and she scrambled to grab something to stop herself from falling.

            Mousse at first hadn't expected a thing as he sat beside his open window, staring at the starry night. He was very startled as the form of Shampoo suddenly appeared before him outside his window. He didn't know how to respond but to stare back at her surprised face. Then he saw her falter from her place and start to fall off the roof. Quickly he reached out and grabbed her by the arms, pulling her close and inside the room. 

Shampoo stood catching her breath and staring at the open window were she just entered from. She hadn't expected this to happen. Heck, she hadn't even expected him to be awake! Then she put herself into danger and couldn't help herself when the time came to do so. It was then that she noticed the pair of arms that still surrounded her protectively and a warm body held against her. She turned to look and blushed as she noticed Mousse staring down at her, with a most questionable look on his face.

            Shampoo pushed out his grasp and walked towards the window before turning back to Mousse. "I'm sure you're wondering what I was doing outside your window."

            He pulled over a chair and sighed as he sat down. "Well, I think I know what you were doing. I'm more interested in why you were up there. Care to explain?" 

            Shampoo bit her lip, nervous as how to explain her actions and paced in front of the window. "I, well, maybe, umm… I guess I wanted to see how you were doing?"

            "In the middle of the night?"

            "I couldn't sleep!" Shampoo turned the subject on Mousse. "Well, you weren't asleep either! What're you doing up this late?"

            Mousse turned his head away from Shampoo's glowering gaze. "If you must know, I haven't really slept much since I got here. I can't sleep without having nightmares."

            "Oh, I see. What kind of nightmares?"

            Mousse turned to look at Shampoo and was surprised to see that she was actually concerned about him. He shook his head and stood up. "It doesn't matter what kind they are. Tell me, why were you above my window? And don't say it was because you forgot what side your room was on, Shampoo. I know you know this house better than that."

            "Mousse, its just not that simple." Shampoo pleaded, edging slowly for the door, as she felt that familiar twinge in her chest. She wanted this to happen and yet a part of her wanted him to stay in the dark.

            "What isn't that simple?" Mousse stepped to the side and blocked her way. "Shampoo, I just want a plain explanation as to why you decided to peek in on me!"

            "It harder than you think for me to say why! Please, just forget about it." Shampoo tried to push him out of the way only to have Mousse firmly grasp her arms, which made her look up at him.

            "Shampoo, I know everyone's been keeping something from me." Mousse spoke as his eyes met with Shampoo's. "First I'm kidnapped, then told I used to know everyone here over sixteen years ago, then nothing else! If it deals with that in anyway then tell me, please! Why are you here?"

            Shampoo turned her face away from his gaze, closing her eyes. She felt the tears come back, forcing their way through her defenses. "It was…it was because you never came back to me Mousse!" she cried as she felt the tears release and buried her head in his chest. "You left me behind and never even gave me a second look! I had to know why! I had to know why you forgot everything!" 

            Mousse stared down silently at her, not believing what he heard.

            Shampoo caught her breath for a moment as she cried. "Mousse, I came because I just wanted to see you again. After all these years, I still feel the same. I hoped that if you saw me again, you'd remember how we used to be, but now…" Shampoo broke off as another torment of tears streamed down her face.

            Mousse stared down at the crying woman that lay against him. There was so much going on in his head that he didn't know what to do but what his heart told him. Slowly he wrapped his arms around Shampoo and held her tight against him, feeling her warmth and her tears. "Shampoo, you really believe I'm the same man that left you behind?"

            Shampoo looked up at Mousse and nodded. "I know you're him. Mousse you and only you are the same person that I used to know…and love."

            "Then…then why act like you never even knew me?"

            "I hoped that you would remember on your own. Everyday I hoped, but everyday I just saw you…not him."

            Mousse heaved a sigh and pulled Shampoo closer to him. "You know, there's something that I've been wanting to tell you. Through everything that I've been through," he paused as he looked back down at Shampoo, "Well, as long as I've known, I've never met a person like you. 

You are so different from any other person. The first time I saw you, something happened to me. I never said anything, but I knew that I wanted to hold you as hard as I could. Even though I had never seen you before, I felt that I had to grasp you tight, just like this. Maybe I don't deserve someone like you, but if I ever could…I swear, I'd love you for the rest of my life."

            "Oh Mousse, I…" Shampoo choked out as she heard his words.

            Mousse closed his eyes, pained by what he knew. "No, I understand now. I see how much you love him and even though I am him, you still won't love me."

            "I'm so sorry Mousse. You have to see, I just can't choose like that."

            Mousse shook his head in understanding before opening his eyes and looking back at Shampoo. "So you really wish to have him back?"

            As she nodded her head yes, Mousse released Shampoo and walked to the window. He paused for a moment in front of it before pacing back and forth. His brow was contorted with thought in a way that made Shampoo start to worry. "Mousse? Is there something wrong?"

            He stopped in mid-step and turned towards Shampoo. "Do it."

            "Do what? What're you talking about?"

            "You came here, knowing that I forgot everything about you and here, right? You had to have had an idea of how to get my memory back. I don't want to cause you any more pain then what's already been given. Just…do it."

            Shampoo stared at Mousse, her eyes shining with new and old tears. Moments later she fell to her knees on the floor. "I…I just can't do that to you Mousse. Yes, I do have a way, but I don't want to use it. If something goes wrong, you may never return at all, memories or not."

            Mousse hurried over and knelt in front of her, taking her hands in his. "Shampoo, please! I want to be the man that you used to love so much. You know that I love you and I'd do anything to keep you, but just I can't hurt you anymore. As a last request, please Shampoo!"

            She stared at him through blurred eyes, before numbly shaking her head. "Okay Mousse. If that's what you want." 

Sniffling away her tears, Shampoo slowly slid her hand into the top of her shirt and pulled out a small packet. She kept it close to her always, wanting to believe that she wouldn't have to use it. Also out of fear that someone might find it and harm themselves in the process. 

            Shampoo gestured towards the floor, "Lie down." Mousse did as he was told and laid down in front of her. Staring down at Mousse and meeting his eyes, she continued. "Mousse, this is Delina pollen. It dominates your senses and overrides your subconscious. You must know that this is banned from our village because it caused great harm to its past users. Once you breathe it in, it only takes a moment before its activated. I don't know what it'll do after then, but just remember what is here for you when you return. Understand?"

            He nodded. "Yes, I understand." He reached over and grasped her empty hand, bringing it over his chest. "I can't forget about you twice, Shampoo. Don't worry, I will be back, both of us will." With that he closed his eyes and waited.

            Shampoo hesitated completing the act until she felt Mousse squeeze her hand reassuringly. Smiling as best she could, she stretched out her hand holding the packet over his head and shook out its contents. As soon as the packet was empty, she watched his face for the signs when the drug would start working. At first nothing happened, but suddenly Mousse's body jerked from its place on the floor. His back arched up and his mouth opened wide, gasping for as much air as possible before suddenly going limp. Shampoo observed the scene of events from behind teary eyes and she knew, the drug had begun its work.

            Mousse hadn't known what to expect from the powder that he felt flutter around his face. When he breathed in, he was aware of the pollen flowing into his lungs and then a strange solid feeling that flowed though his veins. Suddenly there was a strong pull on his body and he could help but let the spasm take its course. As his body went limp, so did his consciousness.

            The next thing he knew, he was staring into the dark. The silence around him was deafening. Then he heard or at least he thought he heard whispering behind him. Turning, he saw young girl with purple hair sitting on a bench. She swung her legs and hummed to herself, seeming very content at the moment. He slowly walked towards her, intrigued by the little girl. As he got closer, she turned and looked at Mousse. Instantly he stopped in step and stared. The little girl just giggled at Mousse and leaped off the bench. Running towards Mousse, she grabbed his hand and tried to pull him along with her.

            "Come Mousse. We play, we play!" she squeaked, giggling the whole time. Suddenly her image faded and the darkness set in again. Then there was an explosion of light that surrounded him and what he saw, he couldn't believe. He saw the little girl again, yet now in fast-forward. She aged within minutes and Mousse realized who she was. The little girl was Shampoo as a child and he started to understand that he had been a part of her life. There was a sharp turn of events to the motions before him and he soon recognized Ranma and Ryoga in their younger years. Akane and Ukyo were there as well. The events started flowing faster and faster until he felt as if he was in the middle of a high-speed highway, then there was nothing. 

            Now before him appeared a room and he noticed that it was meagerly decorated for a girl. He saw it was night as he looked through a window. Shampoo appeared then in the room, sitting on the bed. Next to her appeared the boy he had seen from earlier in his own dreams. He couldn't hear what she said, but what happened amazed him. She brought a hand to his past image's face and then pulled him into a hug. A fast-forwarded moment later, she lifted his head towards hers and kissed him and he responded with his own feelings. Mousse sank to his knees as he felt an aching pull to his chest, until he finally blacked out.

            Mousse came to, blinking his eyes to the bright light that shone into his eyes. Sitting up on one arm, he noticed another form beside him on the bed. Smiling he looked down at Shampoo sleeping beside him. He trailed the back of his hand against her cheek, feeling the softness of her skin. Sighing, he pulled a strand of hair away from her face and tucked it in behind her ear. How lovely she was when she slept. Though now a deep regret started to form in his mind. He couldn't stay here, not without earning this love from her first. He had done nothing in his life to deserve her, or this, and he knew that he had to leave. He had to go and find a way to deserve her respect, to bring honor upon her.

            Stealthily and hastily, he dressed himself and packed his bag. She stirred for a second and he froze instantly, not wanting her to wake and see him, as it would be even harder for him to leave. Pausing a moment before he left, he sat down on the bed beside her and stared at her, imprinting her image into his memory.  Softly he leaned down and kissed her lips once more. 

            Darkness abruptly settled around Mousse, with Shampoo and her room dissipating into nothing. A heavy thickness spread through his body and it felt as if he was falling, falling into a bottomless pit. Sharply his eyes were forced open as he felt a slamming blast upon his chest and he hectically looked around at his surroundings. He shook his head, there was nothing wrong. Just a bad dream of some sort. He was still in the tent that he had gone to sleep in last night. He had been traveling for four months now and still had nothing to show for his effort. Nothing to say he was worthy of Shampoo's love. Shaking away any sleep left over in his mind, Mousse sat up and opened the flap to his tent.  The light that shone upon him was blinding and before he could shield it from his eyes, it enveloped his whole body once more. 

Once again it felt as if he was falling, faster and faster into the never-ending pit. He was then slammed against the ground, pain driving its way through every nerve of his body. He feebly opened his eyes, and noticed before him the image of a young woman with long blue hair that hung to the ground. The woman knelt over him, smiling in a way that Mousse couldn't place it as either happy or malicious. Her clothes, well they at least covered the most basic parts of her…anatomy.  He quickly diverted his eyes, trying not to do what most young men would in his situation.

"Silla ting." She said with a high toned and long-drawled demeanor. "You shouldna be doin' thos kinda tings."

"What was I doing?" Mousse managed to say between gasps for air, since the blow had literally knocked the wind out of him.

The woman giggled. "You were talkin to dat tree lik it was some kinda woman or someting. Den it fell on ova ya and rolled ya down de hill a bit. You all rite?"

"Yeah, I will be, soon enough.  Hey, is there an inn or something I can stay at for the night?" He questioned as he sat up and rubbed his head, kneading the pain away.

"Sure der is hon! I gots an inn just down the way! You can stay der for de nite, if ya want." The woman said as she played with her hair, waving it in front of her face

"Thanks, umm… What was your name?"

The woman stretched out her hand towards Mousse, willing for him to take it. "My name's Suko."

Mousse stared at her hand for a minute before grasping it with his own and standing up beside the young woman. But as soon as he stood, the ground beneath him disappeared and so did the lovely young lady. Frantically Mousse looked around before wandering blindly through the darkness. At last after searching in the dark for so long, his hands came to rest upon a pair of cold metal bars. Abruptly three sets of bars clamped around him, encasing him within the metal bars. His clothes were torn and ripped by an unseen force and new wounds opened upon his exposed skin. Suko then appeared before him, yet now garbed in what seemed to be tribal robes and her blue hair floated in braids around her. She lifted a hand to her smiling mouth and laughed maniacally at Mousse.

"You foolish man. Try to escape my home, did you? I guess my act wasn't good enough to fool you for more than one night." Suko cackled out in a hideously dangerous pitch. "So sad. And here I was hoping to keep you too…"

Mousse growled low beneath his breath. "You bitch! You could never keep me here! Not ever in a million years! I already love one woman and it'll be only her for the rest of my life! I could never be captured by something as low and demeaning as you!"

"Oh really? For the rest of YOUR life, huh?" she commented, a little offended by his outburst. "Well, I think I can fix that. I can make you forget everything!" 

She pointed two fingers together at Mousse and mumbled a few words under her breath. Suddenly four blue streaks flew from her outstretched fingertips and darted straight for Mousse. They dove straight into Mousse's chest, glowing brighter and brighter as they plunged deeper in. Mousse screamed out in pain, falling to his knees as the blue streaks hit their mark inside and encased his heart with their eerie blue light.

"Now tell me, my young man," Suko chided. "What do you want more than anything?" She listened, waiting to hear her name be spoken by the broken boy. 

"Shampoo." Mousse weakly whispered.

"What?!" she screamed, not comprehending what she had just heard.

"I said, SHAMPOO!" Mousse screamed as he raised himself on wobbly legs, bracing himself against his cage. "I want her more than anything! I promised her! Don't you understand!!" 

"Understand? All I understand is that I didn't use enough power before. I didn't think you to be so strong in spirit. Don't worry, next time will work for sure!" And with that she pointed her fingers at Mousse again, a multitude of blue sparks flying out from her fingertips. They penetrated into Mousse once more and his scream rang out louder than before.

"Just let me see her again!" he choked out, fighting as best he could against Suko's power, "I can't lose her now!" 

But before he could do anymore, he fainted upon the ground with Suko's power taking over his body. 

She laughed to herself as she walked toward the fainted boy. Reaching the cage, she grabbed his hair, lifting his head up so that she could see his face. Her laughing quickly died out as she stared intently at him. She pried an eye open to find it glazed over and shining a faint blue. "Damn it!" she screeched and dropped his head with disgust. "You had to fight it out to the end, didn't you! Now you're worthless to me! With no memories what so ever, I can't use you for a servant now!"

Sighing disappointedly, she walked back to a velvet covered chair and plopped herself onto it. She snapped her fingers together and within seconds two young men appeared before her.

"What may we do for you Mistress Suko?" they said as one, bowing before her.

Suko waved her hand towards the cage that held Mousse. "Take out that…trash. It has no use to me now. Drop him off somewhere, just get rid of him!"

********************

            Mousse's eyes opened unseeing and his body began to seize, shaking and jerking from his place on the floor. Shampoo woke from her sleep as she had been sitting beside him still and when she saw what was happening to him, she screamed out in fear, "MOUSSE!"

            His back arched and his eyes rolled back, still seeing nothing before them. His skin started to change color to a bluish gray and he let out a stiffened cry as air was forced out of his lungs. He gasped again and again trying to pull in oxygen. His limbs, body and head began to jerk rhythmically. 

Frantically Shampoo threw herself upon him, trying her best to hold him down. "Mousse, no don't do this!" she cried, clutching his convulsing body to herself. "Don't leave me! You promised me you wouldn't leave!" 

As Mousse continued convulsing for another minute before the jerking of his body slowed and the seizure had ended, Shampoo kept repeating those same words over and over again as she embraced his body. "Don't leave me, Mousse. Don't leave me. Please, don't leave me!"

************

Hello! 

Hey! How did you like Mousse's past? Was it too much? Let me tell you, it took me many a day to even figure out what really even happened to him. Was it a guy or woman that captured him? Did they know of the Amazons or not? Did they know Mousse in the past or his family? Or Shampoos? It was a very confusing time!

Anyway, if you're wondering about Tonic calling Mousse, 'Sir' I felt that it was a way that Tonic could show appreciation to an elder man that he doesn't know very well, as in the Japanese culture there are very many terms and names to call every person around you and 'sir' sounded good for the moment.

Also, if you've seen Fruits Basket, then you know what leeks are. In actuality, I have no idea what they are except that they look like a long thin green herb of some sort. Kyo didn't like them, so I figure others don't either. If you know what they are, tell me so that I may reference them better in the future.

Next Chapter and It Had Better BE The Last ONE!:

You find out what happens now with Mousse. When he wakes, does he remember or not? And the relationship that starts between the newly formed Amazon family. Oh and an epilogue! Just for kicks! ^_^

Thanks so much!

^_^ (\/)  cyancat 


	13. Apology Accepted

All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! (/) Cyancat

**Forgotten Memories **

**Chapter Twelve – Apology Accepted**

Shampoo cradled on her lap the head of the man that she had cared for these many years. It had been hours since his seizure and at first she was scared that he had died at that moment, but no, there was a heartbeat and his chest rose and fell with even breathing. The worst thing was that now Shampoo feared he might never wake up.

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Mousse woke with a dizzy head and opened his eyes to see black and bleak darkness still surrounding him. He stood up and tried to survey his surroundings, squinting into the dark. Suddenly there was light all around him and Mousse noticed he wasn't alone. Ten feet away from him stood a figure with his back turned towards Mousse. His long black hair hung to his waist and he wore a white robe with a yellow and red triangular pattern on it. It took him a few moments but the reality of who this person was quickly dawned upon Mousse. He slowly started to approach, but before he could take five steps, his younger version whipped around and glared daggers at him.

"What're you doing here? No one is supposed to be here but me!"

Mousse didn't stop. Not until he stood directly in front of the boy and glared back down at him. "Well, I'm here now. What're you gonna do about it?"

Young Mousse clenched his hands. He didn't like this person and how he was acting. He shot his left hand up and toward Mousse's face, but was stopped by a much stronger force. He stared in dismayed stock at the offending person's hand gripping his wrist. This had never happened to him before. Quickly he tried again with the other hand, adding on a pair brass knuckles, but before anything could happen his arm was stopped just as suddenly as the first time.

Horror-stricken he looked from his hands to the man and back again. He couldn't comprehend how this was possible. How was he able to overpower him? The master of the hidden martial arts?

Mousse smiled to himself as he watched his younger version look back and forth from his hands that he held in his own. He had even surprised himself at how fast he moved and how he could predict the boys movements. Though, his smile slowly faded. This was taking too long, he had to get this over with now!

The boy looked up at him, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, not knowing what to do. Mousse stepped back one pace and then instantly rammed his knee into the young man's gut. Young Mousse gasped for air as the huge force was slammed against him. He fell to the ground on his knees, coughing and wheezing as he held his stomach. He looked up as the man before him, eyes searching for a reason why this happened.

"Ready to listen to me now?" Mousse barked at the young boy. Young Mousse just looked down to the ground, knowing he was beaten. "Good, then pay attention to every word I say! I won't repeat myself. First of all, as you wonder who I am, yes I know you're wondering who I am. That's because you're me." The boy's head shot up instantly in shock, with his eyes wide. "Yes, you see I am the same person you are. We are one, got it? It's just that I'm seventeen years older than you."

The boy slowly stood up, a hand still holding the place where he had been hit. "Never thought I could change so much in seventeen years. I hardly recognize myself. So what am I doing seventeen years in the future?"

"Why weren't you able to defeat Suko? She didn't seem that hard to beat. Shampoo has been waiting for years for you to come back, yet you... I haven't. Why is that?" Mousse stated impassively, not listening to the boy's question.

Young Mousse froze instantly. He quickly turned and began to walk away. "Shut up!! Shampoo isn't any of your business!! None of that has anything to do with you!! Get away from me!"

That made Mousse twitch. He reached out and grabbed the boy's shoulder, pulling him back and shoved him down to the floor.

"This has nothing to do with me?! Listen up, punk! This has everything to do with me! I have loved Shampoo with all my heart ever since the first time I met her and I know that you do too. You've locked yourself away in this place for some stupid reason that I don't know why and left her behind all these years!

I thought I could be content living with her as the person I am. Yet I know all she wants is you, she doesn't want me! Even if I were to live the rest of my life with her, I know she'd look at me everyday looking for you and be pained when she can't find you! You are the person that she grew up with, matured with, and whom she grew to love over the many problems plaguing you both! I understand how she feels and I want the best for her. Everyday I was with her, I saw the pain of years and years of loneliness in her eyes." Mousse turned his back to the boy. "I just… I just don't want to see her in pain anymore. And you're the only thing that can help her."

Mousse, clear of his rant, stood in the silence that hung in the air. He was shocked at himself, as he usually would never act so forceful, but that boy had set off something inside him.

"Did I really cause her so much pain?" Mousse heard the boy faintly question. Turning around, he saw his younger version sitting on the floor, arms resting on his legs and a mournful look upon his face. "I didn't think she would be hurt so much. I knew what happened between us that night was special, but I…" He faltered in ending his sentence.

"But you what? You wanted to go on a sudden training trip without telling her?" Mousse stalked toward him and squatting down beside him, grabbed a fistful of robe, pulling him face to face with the younger man. "What was it, because I know it wasn't because of some silly village rule that you had to earn the love of your woman! You earned it three-fold and there was no need to leave! So why did you run off?!"

Young Mousse looked away from the angry glare he was getting, "I thought that she would regret what happened between us…"

"Regret?" Mousse asked, confused and let go his grip on the boy. "What do you mean?"

Young Mousse looked back at Mousse in the eye. "I mean, I thought that she would deny that anything even happened between us. That she wouldn't even look at me or even talk to me. I was so scared to see how she was going to act that morning that I took off." He sighed heavily once, recollecting his thoughts and memories. "I-I had to find something or do something that would make her proud of me and prove any feelings that she might have had for me… I was just scared to lose her after something so meaningful happened between us."

There was a weighted pause between the two. Mousse finally stood up after some time and walked a few paces back and forth before approaching his younger self. "You want to see her again, don't you?"

He shook his head. "Yeah, more than anything."

"Then forget everything that happened back then, forget about Suko, forget about being gone all this time and go back to her. She needs you more than anything, I know that and you should know that by now. Just remember her and see that she loves you."

"You sure? You think that she'll really forgive me for everything that's happened?" Young Mousse asked as he looked up at the man beside him.

Mousse laughed lightly to himself and held out his hand to the boy. " I know so. You're the only person that can make her happy. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it. I can't stay away from her. I love Shampoo too much to do this anymore." With a flash of a smile, Young Mousse reached out and grabbed the outstretched hand of Mousse. Instantaneously there was a bright white light emanating from their grip and it hastily enveloped the two until there was nothing left but the clear white nothing.

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> **You don't remember me but I remember you  
I lie awake and try so hard not to think of you  
but who can decide what they dream?  
and dream I do...**

Mousse slowly blinked his eyes open as a soft voice murmured close to him. He felt his right hand being grasped firmly by a pair of warm hands. Both it and the voice were soothing and so familiar to him that he had to know who was speaking.

> **I believe in you  
I'll give up everything just to find you  
I have to be with you to live to breathe  
you're taking over me**

As his vision cleared, Mousse realized that he was back at the Tendo home. Looking over he noticed with amazement that it was Shampoo grasping his hand and speaking those words. She was so intent on what she said, she had her eyes shut tight and it nearly seemed as if she was praying those very words.

> **have you forgotten all I know  
and all we had?  
You saw me mourning my love for you  
and touched my hand  
I knew you loved me then**

Mousse was amazed at what he saw. Shampoo had grown up into such a beautiful woman, her figure was more full and all of her youthful curves had filled out. Even though he KNEW that he had seen her before, he was taken away at how beautiful she still looked since that last day he had seen her. Those flowing purple tresses that stopped just short of her shoulder and her perfect oval face that radiated such beauty. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

> **I believe in you  
I'll give up everything just to find you  
I have to be with you to live to breathe  
you're taking over me**

Gods, how much it hurt to hear her pained words. Now he fully understood how much pain she had been in all these years. He had to see her eyes open, he had to see if she still loved him. Softly he made sure with his left hand that he could move at all, much less move his hand before trying what he wanted. When he was sure that it was possible, he centered his sights on Shampoo's face and softly squeezed his hand, encased in her own grasp.

Instantly she stopped speaking, much less even breathing for that matter. She was waiting for that next squeeze, that next assurance that Mousse was really awake. He smiled at her, amused at her behavior. It was like her to be over emotional in these kinds of situations. Gladly he squeezed her hands once more and watched as Shampoo's violet eyes instantly shot open, searching for his own.

He smiled softly at her, seeing her shocked expression pass over her face and then slowly dissipate. Her eyes danced with a renewed fervor and he gazed at her shining eyes brimming with new tears as the pain hidden behind them slowly began to fade.

Shampoo's mouth opened once and then closed just as quickly, the words she wanted to say were lost in her throat. Slowly Mousse reached up with his free hand, softly cupping her face and wiped away a fallen tear with his thumb. Somehow, what he wanted to say, he suddenly couldn't find the words. The only thing left to say was…

"Sorry I'm late."

Shampoo seemed to shudder for a moment, the shock scattering from her body in an instant. She dropped his hand and threw herself down upon Mousse, wrapping her arms around his head and burying her face in his shoulder, the tears she had been fighting back fell down in a cascade. Digging her hands into the folds of his robe, she never wanted to let go.

"Oh Mousse, I-I thought I'd never see you again! You left without even telling me! I was so lonely and miserable without you. Why? Why did you have to go? Didn't you see I loved you? How could you leave me like that!?"

Mousse sighed knowing he had done wrong and wrapped his arms around her trembling body. "I'm sorry I left you like that, I-I…" Mousse paused, unsure how to say the right words. "I guess I was too blind to see what was right in front of me. I know that it's not an excuse, but I'm here now and I won't be going anywhere without you by my side."

Shampoo sniffled hearing Mousse's words, but kept her head buried in his shoulder not daring to look him in the eye. "But why? Why did you leave me?! Don't you know how much it hurt me? I was so lost and alone…"

Again she broke into a cascade of tears as she confronted everything she had wished to know. Mousse frowned, seeing the woman he loved so much, cry and it was because of him. He had never thought that she'd be like this. She'd always been strong when they were children and even as they lived in Nerima. She'd never shown any feelings like these, tears and loneliness. He had really hurt her and now he had to find someway to mend her broken heart.

Slowly Mousse sat up, though his body screamed its opposition to the movement. Shampoo still clung tightly to his chest, tears falling down her cheeks in silent weeping. He brought a hand to her face, caressing her jaw line and the soft skin of her cheek. As Shampoo slowly turned her head up at him, he noticed that her eyes were closed tightly with tears breaking away from the corners.

"Shampoo, why don't you look at me?" He rubbed her cheek with a thumb, trying to coax her eyes open.

Shampoo covered his hand with hers, leaning her face into the warmth of his skin. "I-I can't. This happened so many times in my dreams. If I open my eyes, you'll be gone and this nightmare that is my life will keep going. You won't be here and I won't be holding you. If it means that I have to lose you, then I don't want to wake up."

"I'm right here, Shampoo. I'm not going to leave you again, you have my word." With that said, he leaned over and covered her lips with is own, catching her in a searing kiss that spoke every word of love that couldn't be said. The passion that he felt with her the first night was just as it was now. The spark that they shared together had never dimmed and even grown in its intensity. As Mousse slowly broke the kiss, Shampoo lingered with abated breath, her lips parted with fervor. He watched with an expectant gaze as her eyes fluttered open and her violet met his blue-gray.

"I haven't left you, have I?" Mousse asked the breathless Shampoo. "I'm still here, just like I said."

A smile appeared on her tear-stained face and one appeared on his as well. The pair gazed each other for sometime, passing silent words between them until Mousse broke their eye contact and pulled Shampoo into a crushing hug.

"Kami, how I've missed holding you. Its like I've been holding my breath this whole time and now I can finally breathe. All because you're here beside me, Shampoo." Mousse kissed her forehead and felt her shiver in an answer.

Shampoo slowly pulled herself from his grasp and looked up to his gaze, wanting to have her one question answered. The one question that she was sure everyone would ask him. "Mousse, why didn't you come back? You said in the note you'd left me that you would return. It's been over sixteen years since that day. Why? Please tell me why you didn't return to me!"

Mousse looked away from her expectant eyes and sighed. How could he tell her of what happened to him? Everything had been a mistake and he'd fallen into the worst part of it. His eyes searched the room looking for a way to explain it, but when he looked back at Shampoo's hopeful gaze, he couldn't help it. Slowly he started with the details of where he traveled to and how he had always looked behind him, looking for her. Mousse then came to where he had met Suko.

It was hard enough to tell Shampoo about it, being that an Amazon, male or female, hardly ever mentioned their defeats. But she deserved it, she had the right to know and Mousse began with the details of how he had been talking to a tree, imagining that it was her. Then how the tree fell over (apparently some villagers played a prank on him) and then his sudden introduction to the raven blue-haired maiden named Suko.

His eyes darted to look at Shampoo's face as he mentioned Suko, wanting to see her reaction. Shampoo's body jumped a little at the woman's description, but other than that Shampoo sat still beside him listening to the description. He took a deep breath and continued with his explanation. He went on with Suko inviting him to her 'inn' and staying there for the night, but not without noticing that there were no other customers there, just a lot of servants, male servants to be exact. Mousse spoke about how he overheard Suko the next morning, planning to make him her next 'boy-toy.' When he confronted her about it, she had simply pulled a lever and down he fell into a steel cage below the house.

Mousse continued with how he had fought back against Suko's magic, leaving him severely wounded but still not giving up. When she attacked him with her blue bolts of energy, Mousse pointed out how he used his memories of her to fight against the magic that was struggling to make him forget. It worked the first time, but the second time…his mind had taken another way out. Instead of forgetting everything and succumbing to Suko's magic, his mind locked it all away deep in a place that only Mousse's subconscious could get to, making Mousse unusable to Suko.

Remembering that moment, Mousse looked at Shampoo and realized something, he hadn't been using glasses this entire time. His vision was clearer than he had ever known and suddenly he knew how. Suko's magic had done it. The men that she had taken control of had no imperfections, they were perfect in her mind's eye. The reason for that was because along with making a person forget their dearest memories, it also fixed any 'imperfections' that a person might have had. The last few moments that he recalled being at Suko's, Mousse recollected his eyes burning and itching like crazy, which meant the magic had been working. No more glasses, ever.

Mousse looked back to Shampoo satisfied that he had finally told her the truth. But when he looked at her face, he was taken aback at her reaction. Her eyes watered with renewed tears and her bottom lip quivered, suggesting she could start crying again at any moment. Quickly he scrambled to take her in his arms and hugged her close.

"What?! What is it? Wha'd I say?" Mousse panicked.

Shampoo sniffled, fighting back her tears. "It's not what you said, it's what happened to you. I'm sorry I doubted you, thinking that you didn't love me during all those years you were gone, but when you told me about fighting Suko's magic…I realized how stupid I was. I'm just so happy that you're here."

Relieved, Mousse kissed her forehead once more, "Shampoo, I'm always gonna be here. Now that we're together again, we can be a family."

Instantly Shampoo froze at the word 'family'. She had almost forgotten the most important thing about this meeting, the person that had brought them together. Shampoo pushed out of Mousse's arms and looked up at his face for a moment before standing up and pulling him up after her.

"What? What is it Shampoo?" Mousse asked worriedly.

Shampoo sighed and squeezed his hand. "I have to show you something. Follow me."

Shampoo then lead a confused Mousse by the hand out of the room and into the hall. She noticed that it was a little past dawn, so thankfully everyone would still be asleep. Then they were at the second door down the hall, Shampoo paused in front of it for a moment before glancing at Mousse's puzzled face while she gripped the door handle. Softly she opened the door and led Mousse in, walking him over to the bed.

She spied her daughter still asleep and smiled lightly at the young girl. Soon she would be meeting her father and he, his daughter. Bringing him to the edge of the bed, Shampoo sat down beside her daughter and pulled back the cover so that they could see her sleeping face.

Shampoo stood up next to Mousse and motioned for him to sit down where she had been sitting. He obliged, still mystified at what was going on, but was unsure what to do. Looking up at Shampoo, his eyes begged her to tell him what was going on.

"Mousse, two months after you left I found out something." Shampoo knelt beside the bed and ran a hand through her daughter's hair. "This is our daughter."

She saw Mousse out of the corner of her eye instantly freeze at her words and smiled. She kept her eyes on her daughter and stroked her long black hair once more. Suddenly she felt a hand on her arm and was jerked out of the room. When they finally arrived in the hall, she turned to see Mousse standing before door, starting to wring his hands in anxiety.

"Sh-sh-shampoo, h-h-how is this possible?" Mousse gulped as finally responded to Shampoo's words, "I mean, how can WE actually have a daughter?"

Shampoo smiled coyly at the stunned man before her and stayed his fretting hands "Mousse, you know how it's possible. Everything was there and it just sort-of happened. But so you know, I never thought her to be a mistake. I was happy to have our child."

Mousse looked back over his shoulder at the door and stared, his eyes remembering the angelic face that slept within.

"What's her name?" he asked, eyes still glued to the door.

"Mousse."

"What?"

"No, Mousse."

"What?!" he exclaimed, looking back over at Shampoo.

She shook her head at Mousse and grasped his face with both hands. "Mousse, her name is Mousse. I named her after you."

"You-you named her after me? Really?" Part of a smile formed on his lips, "But, why?"

"Because," Leaning back against the wall and crossing her arms over her chest, Shampoo sighed in regret. "Before she was born, Great-grandmother told me that I couldn't keep her as we were returning to the village as soon as I had the baby. I hated to do it, but it was her decision at a time where I was very confused.

I named her after you because…because I would have to only leave one person, one name behind. I thought that I would never see either of you again, so I didn't want to have to burden myself with a past that I would never see again. That's why she's named after her father, named after you Mousse. I loved both of you so much, it hurt too much to leave both of you behind."

Mousse looked at Shampoo and then down at the floor and back again. SO much had happened since he left, how could he ever, ever make it up? Stepping forward, Mousse slowly wrapped his arms around her. "Shampoo, I can't believe that I didn't realize this. If I had even thought for a second that you might have been…"

Shampoo silenced him with a finger to his lips. She softly kissed him and smiled at his bewildered face. "I know that. You don't have to explain. I just want to give our daughter a family, finally, for the first time in her life. Alright?"

"S-sure, if that's what you want." Mousse stuttered and with that Shampoo quickly lead him back to the girl's bedside.

Shampoo sat down on the bed and shaking the girl's shoulders, roused Mousse from her sleep.

"What is it mom? It's too early for training." Mousse whined, flopping over and hiding her head underneath the pillow.

Shampoo gave a laughing look to Mousse as he stood beside her and then leaned down beside the pillow and softly whispered. Instantly the young girl sprang up on the bed, shock obvious in her wide eyes. Immediately she met the gaze of the man beside her bed and couldn't look away.

Shampoo placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder and then took Mousse's hand in her own. She squeezed his hand, comforting the man, because he looked ready to faint on the spot. "Mousse, this is your daughter."

Mousse smiled lightly at the young girl, uneasy at what to do as she stared wide-eyed at him. "Hey." He said weakly, as this was the only thing he could think of to say.

Mousse felt the tears start to well up in her eyes as she stared ahead at the man standing nervously beside her bed. She looked frantically back and forth from Shampoo to Mousse as realization set in. Swiftly she jumped out of bed and hugged her mother once before throwing her arms around Mousse. Her tears made a path down her cheeks and quickly stained his black robe.

Mousse looked down at the girl who he had just been told was his daughter. Even through these few moments, Mousse could see her beauty shine from beneath, just like her mother. Her oval face and violet eyes were just like her mothers and that long black hair, well he had to give something to this didn't he? After a few moments of staring down at the girl hugging him tight, he returned the embrace, feeling his own eyes start to water.

Immediately Mousse knew that in his heart that she was his own daughter, borne from the woman he loved more than anything. The absence of sixteen years hadn't changed a thing between them except for the creation of a new life that Mousse knew that he would do anything for.

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What is to happen in the future for our new family? Stay tuned for the epilogue!

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Well, I knew it was going to be a long one. But hey it turned out all right in the end.

Did you think that the few moments between Shampoo and Mousse were too much? Maybe and bit too sappy? I don't know, its that I just couldn't end it all very fast, and it just seemed to go on and on. But maybe it's just me.

There will be an epilogue soon, well hopefully soon. I still gotta write the end to "When I Thought I'd Lost You" I must get these done quickly! Did it seem too sappy? I tried really hard not to make it like that, but it just happened. The epilogue will not be that sappy though, I have it already outlined on how to do it, so it should happen soon.

I also havta start working on my costume for Nan Desu Kon in Aurora, Colorado. I'm gonna be Illpalazo from Excel Saga! So much work!! Armor and the clothes. And I'm making all from scratch. His armor won't be cardboard and tin foil, it'll be real metal, oh yeah!! Anyone else going this year???

Please everyone take a look at my Challenge chapter, I really want to do this and I think it will be fun for everyone if you all try.

Thanks To ALL for staying with ME!!  
Cyancat (/)

Oh and the lyrics are again from Evanescence's song "Taking Over Me" Love their songs. Listened to that CD a lot while writing these last few chapters. Lovely, just lovely.


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